


In the Name of War

by Myst_Marshall



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Betrayal, Double Agents, Friendship, Gen, Moral Dilemmas, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2021-03-05
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:53:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 65,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28151928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myst_Marshall/pseuds/Myst_Marshall
Summary: With his childhood scarred by the brutalities of war, all Kakashi yearned for was peace. By day, he was one of the Uchiha's prized shinobi, but by night, he was an informant for the Senju. In the name of peace, he was willing to anything and everything. Only, it hadn't been quite as easy he had thought.His mission? Kill the Uchiha's top medic: Rin Nohara.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	1. Prologue: The Beginnings

Since the beginning of time, there were two sides: the Uchihas and the Senjus. For as long as anyone could remember, those who weren't born into the Uchiha or Senju clan were forced to pick a side. Those who remained neutral drew the short end of the stick, often their lands were decimated in the aftermath of the two rival clans clashing head to head.

The Hyugas, Aburames, and Inuzukas allied themselves with the Uchihas. The Sarutobis, Akimichis, Naras, Yamanakas, and the Uzumakis allied themselves with the Senjus. The smaller clans quickly learned from the ancestor's mistakes. Staying neutral hadn't been an option, so they picked the lesser of the two evils: the Senjus, who was more open to accepting foreigners.

Though the Senjus had greater numbers, the Uchihas weren't a force to be trifled with, not when they possessed two of the most powerful dojutsus in existence.

And since the beginning of time, there was hardly a time when the Uchihas and Senjus weren't at odds with each other. Even during Hashirama's time, who longed for peace more than any of his predecessors, had been unable to achieve said peace as Madara, Hashirama's counterpart, was the complete opposite. He hated every notion and aspect of peace with every fiber of his being. Peace was for the weak.

Madara thrived off of the adrenaline from the battlefield. The Senjus had become mere annoyances to him at that point; the only one who could give him a challenge was Hashirama. Each and every time, he sought out Hashirama, for the sake of feeling the thrill of being on the battlefield, being engaged in battle, not because he actually hated Hashirama. Quite the contrary, as Madara lived his last moments, the memory to flicker through his mind had been one of him and Hashirama as kids, skipping stones across the river.

Things had been so much simpler back then.

Tobirama had taken the helm following Hashirama's death and unlike his brother, he shared no ounce of love for the Uchiha. If the Uchiha wanted to fight, then Tobirama would give them a fight. On the opposing side, Izuna Uchiha led the Uchihas with fury to extract revenge for his older brother, who had died by Hashirama's hand. Tobirama fervently pushed back against the Uchihas' efforts.

At that point in time, any thought of peace had been completely eradicated.

Hiruzen became the third leader for the Senju side, while the Uchihas rotated through several leaders after Izuna's death. At one point, Kagami Uchiha became the leader for the Uchiha side. A temporary peace was established for exactly seventy-two hours.

That peace went straight to hell when the Uchiha dissented against Kagami's ideologies. It was against Madara's wishes, some argued, while others shared the same view that peace was for the weak. Many still harbored hatred in their hearts, determined to extract revenge for their clansmen.

Kagami was quickly replaced.

The war continued to rage on for generations, for most of Hiruzen's life. Through his generation, to his student's generation, then to his student's student's generation, and finally, to the current generation. The current generation was still young, most of them either in the Academy or freshly minted shinobis. Like their predecessors, they grew up in an era of war where most of them became orphans or only had a single parent, where most of them didn't bother asking when their parents would come home because everyone knew most never would, where most of them entered the Academy with the mindset of becoming a shinobi so they could take part in finally ending the damned war.

Minato had been one of those kids. And now watching the generation after him experience the same things ignited his desire for peace tenfold.

But Fugaku Uchiha was the current leader for the Uchihas and he had proven to be easily as stubborn as some of his predecessors, if not more so.

Hiruzen had his eyes set on Minato to become his successor, but first, he wanted to end the war before he handed it off to the next generation. After all, the war had been something that his sensei had left behind for him to deal with.

As Minato quickly made his name on the field, hailed as the Yellow Flash by comrades and enemies alike, Hiruzen took the opportunity to approach Fugaku, opening the discussion of peace. Fugaku shot him down everytime.

It was clear that Madara's ideology resonated heavily with Fugaku.

One day, Fugaku agreed. Hiruzen wasn't sure if his persistence had gotten through to Fugaku or some other reason, but he knew the decision wasn't unanimous. There were rumors of the dissent within the Uchihas and Hiruzen feared that it would be another Kagami all over again.

The peace held. They signed the treaty and Hiruzen passed the reins to Minato, trusting him to lead the village down a brighter future.

Except knowing the history of the Uchihas and Senjus, it was only a matter of time before another conflict broke out. It was evident that even time couldn't erase the hatred in their hearts. Even with the peace treaty intact, multiple conflicts occurred throughout the years. Skirmishes between the two parties happened too often for Minato's liking, but it was fortunate that it hadn't escalated into another war.

Until it did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, welcome to this story! I'm excited to share this story with you. 
> 
> A couple of things:   
> -The prologue is short and boring but you need this foundation going into the story. Basically, I created a AU where the Senju and Uchiha never made peace to build Konoha; instead, they each built their own respective villages.   
> -Characters: Kakashi-centric story, with a good dose of Rin, Obito, and Itachi. There's some OCs for plot purposes, but none actually play a huge role.  
> -Genre: Not going to lie, I wrote this story with the intention of making it a war romance story, but have since veered away from that direction. You'll find elements of KakaRin and ObiRin in this story, but it's not too prevalent if those ships aren't your thing. Instead I found other avenues to explore, like the implication of friendship, betrayal and manipulation, and moral dilemmas. 
> 
> Click next for chapter 1!   
> -MM


	2. Battlefield Glory

**Present**

For the third time that night, Kakashi had been awakened from his sleep. The first had been a medic who barged into his tent to update him of Toshiro Uchiha's condition. As the third in command at this outpost, the news of Toshiro's injuries had spread like wildfire through the camp and dampened morale. Poisoned, heavily wounded in the stomach, quickly bleeding out, a couple of broken ribs, among other injuries that the head medic didn't bother to inform him about. Up until the medic bursted into his tent, Kakashi had no idea what Toshiro's condition was like nor if he would live.

Kakashi was certainly relieved to hear that Toshiro was out of imminent danger, yet he certainly hadn't appreciated the medic rousing him from his much needed sleep. Pushing thirty hours with only a small nap to fuel him, Kakashi had been looking forward to catching up on some sleep.

Perhaps with the news of his comrade's recovery now on his mind, he would be able to peacefully rest.

The second interruption came in the form of a younger boy, who barely looked sixteen, who came rushing into his tent. Through his bleary vision, Kakashi vaguely registered the boy waving a scroll in his hand. The boy stopped in front of Kakashi, holding the scroll in his outstretched hand, waiting for Kakashi to take it.

Kakashi resisted the urge to yell at the boy for ruining his precious sleep once more.

He wearily took the scroll from the boy, blinking away the weariness from his eyes. Pulling on the string knotted around the scroll, Kakashi undid the scroll before unfurling the contents across his lap.

It had taken a couple seconds for his groggy mind to register the contents of the scroll. The usual message from the village, detailing the plans for rotation, to swap out the shinobis who had been at the battlefield for more than three months, so they had an opportunity to recover. The rotation was sent to happen in a week's time and if Kakashi had been in a better state of mind, he might have noted that he was one of those who were due to be sent home after a six month stint of heading the unit in charge of securing the northern border.

Instead, his sleep deprived mind was focused on other things. "And this couldn't wait until morning?"

The boy visibly flinched, taking a few hesitant steps backwards. His shoulders were hunched, feet slightly angled towards the exit. Scared. Ready to bolt. Kakashi couldn't have cared less.

"Kenzou san told me that I should inform you immediately. Obito taichou has instructed all matters to be diverted to you for the next twelve hours."

Kakashi mentally cursed Obito with every possible insult that he knew of. For Obito, the commander of the entire unit, to pull rank and push everything off to him, the second in command, so that he could get some precious sleep was a low move. Especially when Obito knew that Kakashi couldn't pass off the duty to the third in command, not when Toshiro was still recovering from his injuries.

Kakashi had half a mind to instruct the boy to pass the message along to Obito as well, just to spite him, but he figured that there was no way the messenger would do that. Obito was an Uchiha and everyone was scared of pissing off an Uchiha more than a non Uchiha. Like him.

"If it's nothing urgent, don't come bother me again."

The boy nodded vigorously, taking that as his cue to quickly scram from the tent. Kakashi sighed, rolling up the scroll once more and tossing it onto the floor, alongside his pile of weapons. He stretched his body, loosening up the aching muscles, especially around his shoulders before he slid back onto the cot. Laying back down, Kakashi pulled the thin blanket over his body once more, closing his eyes and willing for sleep to take him again.

Only to be awakened a third time by Kenji Uchiha, who woke him up with his shouting. Conditioned to being in the battlefield environment, Kakashi was up on his feet in less than a second. Feet slipping through the sandals left on the floor by his cot, blanket tossed aside, Kakashi made a beeline straight towards his weapons pouch. Clipping the weapons pouch to the waistband of his pants - there was simply no time to put on the rest of his armor - he merely grabbed his sword holder that had been propped against the wall of the tent.

"What's going on?" Kakashi shot to the out of breath Uchiha.

"A fight." That was all Kakashi needed to hear before he bent down, lifting the flap over his head and stepping outside of his tent.

He expected chaos outside of the tent, the kind of chaos that involved rousing the entire camp because there was a Senju force attacking them. What he hadn't expected was chaos, the kind that erupted because of a damned fight between two of his subordinates.

A group had formed to watch the show, no doubt just out of bed judging by their various states of undress. Approaching the group, Kakashi pushed aside some of his subordinates to make his way to the center. The smarter ones had seen Kakashi coming and quietly moved out of his way.

Ren Uchiha and Kaito Hyuga.

Kakashi should have known that this would have happened; they had been at each other's necks from the first day that they had been placed in the same unit. Now a month in, Kakashi was astonished to note that it had taken that long for something to erupt. That might have been due to his efforts to keep the two of them as separated as possible, but the conflict was inevitable.

Too bad they couldn't have picked the worst time to pick a fight. When Obito had deferred authority to him for the next twelve hours, when Toshiro was still recovering so Kakashi couldn't defer to him to take care of it, and when Kakashi was almost set to be on the squad to return home in the next week.

God damnit. Why did it have to be him?

When Ren threw another punch at Kaito, Kakashi decided that it was time to break the fight. With all of the shouts and cheers for both parties, Kakashi had to project his voice, so that he could be heard above the crowd. Though his voice was hoarse and no doubt he would lose his voice the next day, Kakashi had successfully gotten the crowd to quiet down.

Kaito was the only one of the two who heeded to his shout, craning his head to face Kakashi upon hearing his order, but Ren had decided that was the opportunity for him to get another punch in.

Except in the three seconds it would have taken his punch to connect to the left side of Kaito's face, Kakashi had eliminated the distance between himself and the two men and caught Ren's punch with his right hand. His fingers curled around Ren's fist, placing pressure on Ren's fist as Kakashi stared down the Uchiha.

Five seconds into the staredown, Ren jerked his head away, submitting to Kakashi's authority. Displeasure was written all over the Uchiha's face and the scoff that he emitted only served to inform Kakashi exactly how unhappy he was to have to submit to a non Uchiha.

Too bad everyone present knew that Kakashi could kick Ren's ass in a heartbeat.

Kakashi released Ren's fist, which he quickly retracted to his side. His observant eyes didn't miss the way Ren subtly tried to rub his knuckles, the skin in the area having already turned red from the pressure.

"How are we supposed to win against the Senju if we are fighting amongst ourselves?" His voice projected clearly throughout the area. "Those of you who were watching should have stopped the fight, not condone it."

Kakashi watched as many of the crowd either hung their heads out of shame and guilt or averted their eyes when Kakashi tried to make eye contact with them. He whirled his head sharply so that he faced Ren and Kaito.

"And the two of you shouldn't have been fighting in the first place."

"He's the one who started it. He wouldn't listen to my orders!" Ren was quick to point out, jabbing an accusing finger in Kaito's direction.

"He doesn't have any authority over me," Kaito shot back.

Kakashi's eyes flickered back and forth between the two parties as they continued to hash out the entire argument, once more.

"I'm an Uchiha. You always have to listen to me!"

"Listen, you bastard. The Hyuga clan does not have to bow down to you. Don't forget we are allies, not your servants."

Ren scoffed. "Clearly, the Uchiha have the superior dojutsu, so I can take you out in a fight, any day, any time."

"Oh yeah? Big words for someone who couldn't even win the fight earlier."

"It's not like you won the fight either! If taichou didn't step in, I most certainly would have beaten your ass!"

"That's not-"

"Enough!" Kakashi interjected, effectively silencing the two arguing shinobis. "I don't care whose fault it is or who started the fight, but both of you will be on outpost duty for the next two weeks. If by then, the two of you cannot get along, then don't bother coming back at all."

Ren had the audacity to look affronted at the mention of outpost duty; everyone knew that it was the most undesirable position to be in, usually left to the newbies or the ones who drew the short end of the stick. To have to squat in the trees and be on the lookout for numerous hours...to eat their cold meals in the shadows and in silence... while the rest of them were camped around the bonfire, around the warmth…

Kaito merely acknowledged Kakashi's words with a simple nod. With that, the crowd dispersed. Ren and Kaito parted ways, the former muttering some choice words under his breath that Kakashi had chosen to ignore.

If he had ten ryos for every time an Uchiha subordinate disrespected him because he was a non Uchiha, then he certainly would be a wealthy man. He may not have been an Uchiha, but his prowess was nothing to be looked down upon, so much so that Itachi Uchiha himself appointed Kakashi to become Obito's second in command. He had been slated to be the commander of another unit, but the backlash would have been too much.

The Uchihas already had a hard enough time accepting an outsider at the top of their command chain.

As Kakashi turned back to the direction of his tent, he noted the first rays of sunlight peeking through the slowly brightening sky. Judging from the sun's position, it was currently seven in the morning, too late for him to go back to sleep, but also too early for him to feel completely refreshed. Even if he did go back to sleep, Kakashi wagered that there would be a fourth interruption, knowing his luck.

So he switched paths and headed towards the medical tent instead.

Ducking his head as he lifted the flaps of the tent, Kakashi stepped inside. Upon spotting his presence, the medic gave a curt nod before politely exiting the room. Toshiro grinned weakly from his position at the cot. Kakashi moved quickly to his side as Toshiro attempted to push himself into a sitting position.

"Ahh, you shouldn't strain yourself too much." Toshiro obediently laid back down on the cot.

"How's the camp?"

"Complete chaos," Kakashi admitted. "Morale has been low since your platoon came back with only half of your men and one of our best shinobis has been injured. You shouldn't worry about that though; Obito and I have it under control."

Hence, the thirty waking hours that Kakashi had pulled prior to his fragmented sleep.

"They were good men," Toshiro murmured. "The Yellow Flash ambushed us. We didn't have much time to react."

There wasn't a single person who wasn't aware of who the Yellow Flash was; even the civilians in the village knew of his reputation. One of the shinobis on the Senju side that was deemed to be a major threat. The Uchiha side has tried multiple times to take out the legend in order to mitigate future losses, but each attempt ended in a failure.

"Ah, there's nothing you could have done then."

Shisui Uchiha was the only one on the Uchiha side that could keep up with the Yellow Flash.

"I know." At this point, Toshiro closed his eyes. "I just wished it had been Shisui there instead of me. He would have been able to stop the Yellow Flash."

"There's no use in blaming yourself," Kakashi chided. "You were still able to bring back half of your team; that has to count for something."

"Ah, the Yellow Flash voluntarily retreated; it had nothing to do with me," Toshiro admitted. "If he really wanted to, he could have wiped out the entire platoon before I could even activate my Mangekyo. I suspect that it was a warning this time."

Toshiro's suspicions were wrong; Kakashi knew the real reason for Minato's actions, but he wasn't going to correct him.

"We'll be better prepared next time," Kakashi placated, even though both of them knew that there was no preparing against the Yellow Flash's speed. "There's a rotation coming up in a week. You should go home to recover."

Toshiro frowned. "I've barely been here for a month. It does not feel right for me to go home while others have been here for much longer than I have."

"But you are injured," Kakashi countered. "You are no use lying in bed, anyways. When you are healed, I am sure you can request to be sent out to the field again."

"You're leaving this round too, right?"

"And Obito," Kakashi added.

"Then this camp will lose all three of its leaders," Toshiro protested. "It's already bad enough that both you and Obito will be leaving at the same time, but for me to go as well…"

"There will be someone to replace us," Kakashi told him. "The missive stated that Sora Uchiha will be the one to replace us, the camp will be better off with a more experienced leader anyways."

It was well known that Sora Uchiha was a war hawk, having lived through two wars between the Uchiha and Senju as well as multiple skirmishes between the two sides during times of tentative peace.

"That's good," Toshiro murmured. "It seems that the Senju are particularly interested in attacking our northern front these days."

They were, only because they received intel on how to navigate the terrain.

Kakashi merely hummed in agreement.

"Do you even think we can win the war?" Toshiro questioned, his dark eyes boring into the ceiling of the tent. "Doesn't all of this fighting seem pointless to you?"

Kakashi agreed with his sentiments, but it wasn't their generation who started the war. It had been Fugaku's generation who did, and then Toshiro's and his generation were the young abled shinobis who had been drawn into the crossfire.

"I just hope I can live to see the end of the war."

* * *

Obito had such a sheepish look on his face when Kakashi stormed into his tent later that day, that Kakashi found it hard to stay angry at him. As Kakashi half heartedly ranted of all of the crap that he had to deal with throughout the night, including the details of Ren and Kaito's brawl, Obito had placated with the promise that Kakashi would get a peaceful night of sleep tonight.

Kakashi would make sure that Obito kept his word, but there were more pressing matters to discuss.

"Not sure if you have heard, but the rotation is happening at the end of the week. You have the list of shinobis who are switching out?"

Obito nodded. "Yeah, I've already ordered Yasu to inform everyone. Excited to finally get to go home?"

The stupid grin stretched across Obito's face was more than enough to show exactly who was more excited to go home.

"Excited to see the girl who you've been writing letters to?" Watching Obito's face and neck turn bright red was amusing to Kakashi. Obito was the type to get embarrassed by a lot of things, but he was the type to hide it by denying it. Yet there wasn't a single utter of protest from him this time.

"It's been a while since I last saw her…" When Kakashi spotted the dreamy look on Obito's face, he knew his friend was too far gone.

"What's so special about her anyways? You aren't dating her, are you?"

Obito shot him a glare. "Not yet, I haven't had the chance to ask her. I didn't want to be an asshole and do it right before I left. You never met her, so of course you won't understand. She's the best friend I could ask for."

"Oh, so clearly our friendship isn't important to you," Kakashi retorted sarcastically.

"No, no, no," Obito protested. "That's not what I meant. It's just, well, the first time we met, she was the one who saved my life. At that point, I thought I was going to die, so her appearance was a second chance at life that I thought I wasn't going to get."

"Are you sure that you're in love with her or do you just feel indebted to her?" Kakashi commented dryly.

"Definitely in love." There goes the dreamy look on Obito's face again. "She's the kindest, most loving, most patient person I know. She was always there for me when I needed her; I feel terrible that I can't reciprocate since I'm always away from the village."

"A civilian?"

"Part of the medic team," Obito corrected.

Kakashi arched an eyebrow. "Then why don't you request her to be stationed at your outpost? Then you'll be able to spend time with her."

Obito looked appalled at the suggestion. "I don't want her to have to live in such terrible conditions. Besides, she's not field certified, so if an ambush does happen…"

"Neither are half of the medics that are being sent out," Kakashi pointed out. "At this point, there's a shortage of medics that it doesn't matter whether or not they're field certified or not. Besides, she'll be able to save more people out in the field versus waiting for them to be dragged back to the hospital."

Obito shrugged. "As far as I know, she's needed at the hospital. She's a poison expert, so she needs to be on standby to crack Tsunade's poisons."

_Poison expert?_

Kakashi recalled the last correspondence with his sensei and how he briefly mentioned that Tsunade was growing frustrated because someone was continually thwarting all of her creations. He hadn't given much thought to it back then since that wasn't his focus, but if Obito's friend was the poison expert...eliminating her would give the Senjus an advantage.

Perhaps that was another reason why she was being kept in the village.

"I see. That's good."

If Obito took note of Kakashi's lackluster response, he didn't acknowledge it. Instead, Obito continued to ramble on about all of the things that he wanted to do once he reached the village. Kakashi tuned him out for the most part, inserting appropriate head nods or chuckling at certain points to give him an impression that he was still listening, while his mind was fixated on one thought:

It was time to pay the Senjus another visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> You might have noticed the "Present" at the very top of the story. That's very important to look at for because there will be two plotlines happening at the same time, one is the "present" while the other is the "past." Just so you have an idea, the next chapter will be a "past" story but they don't necessarily appear in any specific order. They may seem irrelevant at the moment, but you'll start seeing some connections to the "present" as we go along. The backstories give a lot of character depth and it might help you relate more to why these characters act this way.
> 
> Please let me know what you think! See you soon.  
> -MM


	3. Naivety

**Past**

Five year old Kakashi clambered onto the couch beside his father. Craning his neck upward, Kakashi peered at his father's sleeping form, head cocked to the side, mouth slightly parted open. His father's sandals were still on, as was his weapons pouch and all of his armor, like he had been so tired he just collapsed on the nearest surface.

Frowning, Kakashi hopped down from the couch and went to work, removing his father's dirty sandals. Holding them at the very tips of his fingers and stretching his arm out as far as he possibly could, Kakashi scampered across the living room, placing his father's sandals neatly next to his own, smaller ones. Then, Kakashi went back to his sleeping father and began to unhook the weapons pouch, relieving his father from having an uncomfortable lump digging into his backside as he slept. The next to go was the kunai holster wrapped around his father's thigh, followed by the tanto strapped on his father's back.

That had taken a bit of maneuvering. Kakashi lifted his father's right arm, wrapping it around his own shoulder while he grabbed onto the holster. Sliding it up his father's body, Kakashi slipped it through his father's right arm before gently setting his arm back down to his side. He placed the tanto next to the weapons pouch and kunai holder on the couch next to Sakumo.

Kakashi inwardly debated whether or not he should remove his father's flak jacket; it looked uncomfortable to sleep in, but it would take too much effort on Kakashi's end to remove it. In the end, Kakashi decided to leave it and went to retrieve a blanket for his father.

Climbing on the couch once more, Kakashi hovered over his father as he draped the blanket over him. Satisfied with his handiwork, Kakashi hopped down. Grabbing a nearby notepad, Kakashi hastily scribbled that he was going out and would be back for dinner. Tossing one last look at his father, Kakashi left the house.

Asuma was already there when Kakashi arrived, right by the spot they had agreed on: under the big oak tree by the Academy. The older boy's eyes flickered upwards as he noted Kakashi's presence, but Asuma remained seated on the tire swing. His feet dug into the ground, gently rocking him back and forth.

"You have it?" Kakashi questioned.

Asuma had the audacity to look mildly offended. "Of course, what do you take me for?" Asuma reached into his pockets, rummaging around before pulling out two sheets of chakra paper. He handed one over to Kakashi, who took it with a nod of gratitude.

"Besides, my old man is so busy with war nowadays that he doesn't have time to pay attention to me. He doesn't even know I left," Asuma added. Though he tried to play it off like it was nothing, Kakashi could tell that his father's absence affected Asuma's mood.

Kakashi sat down by the base of the tree, leaning his back against the trunk and stretching his legs out.

"Did you ask your father yet?"

Kakashi shook his head. "When I went home, tou san was already asleep. I think the war is taking a toll on him too."

"And a kid to care for too," Asuma added. "At least you're relatively independent and don't cause too much trouble for your dad."

Kakashi hummed in agreement as he absently stared at the blank piece of paper in front of him. Asuma hopped down from the swing, landing in front of Kakashi. Plopping down onto the ground, he sat cross legged as he held up his own piece of paper.

"You ready?" Asuma questioned. Kakashi nodded. Both of them channelled chakra to their fingers and awaited for the paper to react. Asuma's eyes widened as his paper sliced in half, fluttering to the ground. Kakashi's paper wrinkled between his fingers.

Asuma grinned, pointing a finger at Kakashi. "Ha! Wind is stronger than lightning. Finally, something that I'm better at than you."

Kakashi rolled his eyes, swatting Asuma's finger out of his face. "We'll see about that. You forget that I already know doton."

"Of course, of course," Asuma said sarcastically. "Everyone knows that you are a prodigy."

From others, being called a prodigy was either an insult or a sign of high expectations. From Asuma, it contained neither, just a lighthearted jab between friends.

"Is being a prodigy that good of a thing though?" Kakashi questioned. "Prodigies get sent out to the battlefield at a younger age."

Asuma's eyes widened. "You don't think they're pushing your graduation date because they want to send you to the battlefield, do you?"

Kakashi shrugged. "It's plausible. During wartime, our forces are pushed to our limits, so it would make sense that they would want as many shinobis on the field as possible, regardless of age. Besides, there's no point for me to stay in the Academy any longer; I already know everything that they teach us. I'd just be wasting time there."

"Are you ready though? To face the horrors of war? I know we heard a lot of stories, but experiencing them…"

"It's different, I know," Kakashi acknowledged. "However, no matter the age, I don't think anyone can be truly prepared for war. It's just one of those things...like making your first kill."

"Do you think…?" Asuma didn't even need to finish his train of thought; Kakashi understood.

"No, I don't think so. I'll probably end up being on supply delivery duty to the outpost or other things of the sort," Kakashi told him. "I don't think they'll send a five year old out to the battlefield to die. Besides, I'm sure tou san wouldn't let me anyways."

"But do you want to?"

"To be on the battlefield? Not particularly, but as shinobis, we are often asked to do things that we don't want to do."

Asuma huffed. "Why do you have to sound like my old man? I feel like I'm getting another lecture from him."

Kakashi stood up. "Well I can't help that I am so much wiser than you are. Come on, didn't we agree that we were going to work on learning a new jutsu today?"

Asuma nodded.

Going to the library was a viable option, but Asuma insisted that they should get the scrolls out of his father's private library. Kakashi suspected that Asuma wanted to go back to his house to see if his father would notice him this time, but he didn't comment on it. After all, Kakashi was curious to know if there were scrolls that they wouldn't be able to find at the library. Asuma's father wasn't known to be The Professor for nothing.

The house was silent when Asuma opened the front door. The two of them slid off their sandals, leaving them by the door before Asuma motioned for Kakashi to enter. Kakashi stood off to the side, waiting for Asuma to shut the door before he followed after the older boy, feet padding quietly down the hallway.

Asuma's eyes flickered to the light that spilled through the closed door, located three rooms away from the library. He didn't say anything as he pushed open the door to the library.

In the next instance, Kakashi's attention was captivated by the multitude of scrolls that lined the shelves in the library, possibly offering even more information than the public library. Kakashi went down every aisle, eyes skimming the various titles. Genjutsus. All five elemental ninjutsus. Taijutsu. Beyond the three most common areas of shinobi arts, there were plenty of books on other topics, such as medical ninjutsu, fuinjutsu, and various kekkei genkais. He was particularly drawn to the section that contained scrolls on jutsu creation.

Asuma wandered over to where Kakashi was standing, eyes fixed on a few titles.

"Jutsu creation? A bit ambitious, don't you think?" Asuma commented, eyes sliding over to gauge Kakashi's reaction.

"Strategic," Kakashi offered. "We can learn the jutsus that someone else has created, but the chances are that there is already a counter for it. With original jutsus, we can catch the enemy off guard."

Asuma resisted the urge to facepalm. "You're already thinking like you've been to war and back."

"And that's a bad thing, how?" Kakashi questioned, as he stood on his tippy toes, trying to reach one of the scrolls. The tips of his fingers brushed against the scroll, but he wasn't tall enough to get a grasp on it. Asuma, who was relatively the same height as him, would be no help.

"I'm just saying you should at least try to enjoy your childhood, at least for a little bit."

Kakashi didn't bother to respond to Asuma and instead attempted to reach for the scroll once more. He jumped, stretching his arm to grab the scroll, but failed to get a grip on it before gravity took over and brought him back down to the floor.

"Is there a stool around here?"

Asuma nodded, pointing in the direction near the front door. Before Kakashi could move towards that direction, he heard a new voice interject.

"It's this one, right?"

Kakashi whirled around to see a tall blonde haired man standing there, with the very scroll that he had been trying to get in his hand. His heart was pounding rapidly, from the shock of not even having sensed the arrival of the stranger.

He was young, but he wasn't incompetent. He was even good enough to sense his father on most occasions, so to have someone sneak up to him was such an unsettling feeling.

"Thank you." Kakashi hated the quiver in his voice. The blonde man most certainly noticed, but chose not to comment on it.

"Ah, so this is where you have been, Asuma. Your father told me you were out of the house when I asked to see you."

Asuma shrugged. "Just got back."

"Just here to grab a few scrolls for your father, I'll be out of your way in a moment. Oh! How rude of me to not introduce myself. I'm Minato Namikaze, but you can call me Minato."

Minato had bent down slightly, extending his hand outwards for Kakashi to shake. Kakashi shook it while his brain racked of where he possibly heard that name before. It sounded so familiar...but he just couldn't pinpoint it.

"Kakashi Hatake."

Minato smiled. "Ah, so you're Sakumo san's kid. He told me lots about you when we were stationed to the same outpost a while ago."

Then it clicked. His father had told him multiple stories about Minato.

" _He's a good kid. He has immense potential," Sakumo told him, chuckling lightly. "He even created a jutsu that allows him to detect foreign presence from a distance. Obviously, that's all because Kushina taught him so much about fuinjutsu in the first place…"_

" _Kushina nee san? Are they friends?"_

_Sakumo smiled. "They are, but kami knows Minato wants to be more than that. For all of his brilliance on the battlefield, apparently it's not the same when it comes to love."_

_Three year old Kakashi scrunched up his nose at that prospect. "But I don't want someone to hog Kushina nee's time."_

_Sakumo lightly patted his son's head. "Don't worry, you'll meet him one day. Then you can decide if he's good enough for your Kushina nee."_

Minato Namikaze, one of the few subordinates that had earned his father's respect.

"He told me a lot about you too," Kakashi mumbled. "Is it true that you can cross an entire battlefield in a second?"

"I suppose so. I can show you one day if you would like." Kakashi's expression lit up, but he quickly reverted back to his impassive expression.

"A scroll on jutsu creation?" Minato questioned. Kakashi mentally prepared himself; he most likely was going to get something along the lines of overly estimating his own smarts or being too young to do it. "Do you have anything in mind?"

This time, Kakashi couldn't even hide it. Surprise was etched all over his face. Was Minato actually interested in hearing what he had to say?

"Nothing at the moment," Kakashi told him honestly. "I just found it interesting, that's all."

Minato nodded. "I'm currently working on another jutsu myself. I'll show it to you one day when I'm finished with it, maybe you'll have gathered some inspiration by then. I better get going...it's best to not keep Hiruzen san waiting."

Tossing one last smile at both of the boys, Minato quickly pinpointed the scrolls that he wanted before exiting the library as mysteriously as he came.

"Your father's second in command?" Kakashi asked, wandering back to the section with the scrolls on elemental ninjutsu. Grabbing one on wind and one on lightning, Kakashi tossed the wind one to Asuma.

Asuma shrugged. "There's a lot of talk of Minato san becoming the fourth leader, but I don't know for certain."

"The fourth leader? Your father is retiring?" For as long as he could remember, Kakashi always thought of Hiruzen sama as the leader. Even in his father's stories of the time before he was even born, Hiruzen sama had always been the leader of the Senju force. To have a different leader, it seemed oddly strange and hard for his mind to grasp.

"He's wanted to for a while now," Asuma admitted. "But his students weren't interested in taking over. He's been waiting for the right person to come along and I think he's found it, but Minato san is still a bit too young. Besides, I'm sure my old man wants to wait until the war is over before he changes hands."

"If it ever ends," Kakashi corrected. "Come on, let's get started before it gets too dark."

* * *

Kakashi had gotten back home later than he had anticipated, but he figured it would be alright since his father was probably still asleep. What he hadn't anticipated was his father already seated at the dinner table, two bowls of noodles on the table. Both bowls remained untouched.

"I'm home," Kakashi called out softly as he took off his sandals. Sakumo's head jerked upward, like he had been on the verge of falling asleep. Shooting Kakashi a soft smile, Sakumo motioned for him to join him at the table.

Kakashi slid in the seat across from his father.

"Did you enjoy your day?"

Kakashi shrugged. "Just did some training."

HIs father chuckled lightly. "You need to learn how to have some fun, Kakashi. Do something other than training."

Kakashi ignored his suggestion. "I met Minato san today."

"Did you?" Sakumo's eyes was twinkling with amusement. "How was he? Do you approve?"

"He's an interesting person," Kakashi answered. "He inspired me to create my own jutsu too; I want to make one that's going to be better than his."

Sakumo laughed at Kakashi's declaration, reaching across the table to ruffle his son's hair. "I'm sure you will be able to do it. After all, each generation always finds a way to surpass the previous."

"Maybe." Kakashi was doubtful. From his father's accounts and meeting the man himself, Kakashi had gotten the impression that Minato was a really impressive shinobi. Not to mention, there were rumors that he would become the fourth leader; Minato must have been really impressive if that was the case.

Kakashi shoveled the noodles into his mouth, determined that he would just have to work harder to surpass the blonde haired man.

"Whoa, whoa slow down before you choke," Sakumo commented, reaching out to stop his son. Yet by the time his hand reached across the table, Kakashi had slammed his chopsticks down on the porcelain rim of the bowl. Sakumo was alarmed, black eyes following his son as he slid out of his seat, taking his bowl with him to the sink basin. His son returned to his line of sight moments later; eyes imploring him to finish his own food.

"Hurry up, tou san! I want to go train!"

Sakumo blinked in surprise. One because Kakashi had never asked to train with him; they only ever trained together upon Sakumo's insistence. Two because it had been such a long time since he heard the childish whine in the back of Kakashi's voice; he always thought that his son had been maturing too quickly for his taste.

Shaking his head out of amusement, Sakumo began to eat as his son seemingly stared him down. A warm fuzzy feeling appeared in his chest as Sakumo watched Kakashi try his hardest not to fidget as he impatiently waited for him to finish eating dinner. Sakumo hid his smile by ducking his head downward and taking another bite of his dinner.

He missed this. The feeling of being home. The feeling of being a father again.

He wished it could last an eternity.

* * *

Kakashi Hatake was officially the youngest person to graduate from the Academy since the start of the program. When he left the Academy that afternoon with his newly issued hitai-ate bearing the Senju clan symbol proudly on his forehead, it was received with mixed reactions.

"He's so young!"

"Are they that desperate for shinobi?"

"His father is a genius after all. Guess his kid takes after him."

"Can't believe they let someone so young graduate from the Academy."

"I heard he is leagues ahead of his peers, so it makes sense that they let him graduate early. Can't imagine Hiruzen sama sending him out to the battlefield though."

And so on.

Kakashi heard every single word, even if the adults thought that they were being discreet, but ignored them all. Instead, his eyes roved the crowd of adults, desperately hoping that the only person he cared to see was present.

He knew there was a chance that he wasn't; his father did mention he was on call to be sent back to the field at any moment, but for once, Kakashi selfishly wanted his father to be there for this occasion. The long absences, the loneliness and solitude, the forced independence...all of that Kakashi could handle. But for once, he wished his father could be here.

The more Kakashi searched, the greater the feeling of dread built up in his chest. Brown, black, red, yellow, blue, purple...why couldn't he spot a mop of silver hair just like his own among the crowd?

Kakashi was acutely aware of the other kids exiting the Academy now, running up to their own families to show off their newly minted status as a shinobi of the Senju clan. He was acutely aware of the laughter, the congratulations, the smiles, the happiness that radiated from these families. Kakashi was also acutely aware that he had absolutely no one to share his own joy with.

Crestfallen, Kakashi retreated to his favorite tree, taking a seat on the tire swing. The heel of his sandals dug into the dirt, before he released his hold, letting himself sail through the air. From his vantage point, Kakashi observed the other kids, proudly showing off their brand new hitai-ate to their parents. The parents shone with pride; the younger siblings were envious.

Reaching to the back of his own head, Kakashi tugged on the fabric, loosening the knot. The hitai-ate fell onto his lap. He stared into the metal plating, shiny enough that he could see his own reflection within it.

What was the point of having this if he had no one to share it with?

Angrily, Kakashi flipped the hitai-ate over so he didn't have to see his own forlorn expression staring back at him. Hopping off of the swing while it was in midair, Kakashi landed on his feet with the grace of a shinobi. Clutching his hitai-ate in his right hand, his fingers curled around it with even more force with every step he took.

Kakashi had barely taken five steps when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He whirled around, hand reaching to grab a kunai from his back pocket in the process. The hand was brushed off his shoulder, kunai pointed at the person's abdomen before Kakashi recognized the familiar green of the flak jacket worn by Senju shinobis. His eyes flickered upwards, taking in a familiar pair of startling blue eyes and blonde hair.

Kakashi lowered his kunai, tucking it back into his pocket.

"Minato san," Kakashi greeted, slightly bowing his head just like he had been taught. "Sorry about that, I thought you were an enemy."

Minato smiled. "Your reflexes were good. I suppose it's my fault for sneaking up to you. My apologies for being late."

"Late?" Kakashi repeated. "For what?"

"Your graduation ceremony of course." Upon Kakashi's confused expression, Minato took it upon himself to elaborate. "Your father told me about your early graduation. Since he wasn't sure if he would be able to make it and Kushina is currently out of the village, I decided to come."

"Thanks, but you didn't have to waste your time. It's just graduation, that's all." His words had been meant to be a dismissal, so Kakashi turned to leave himself, but to his surprise, Minato's hand wrapped around his arm, stopping him from leaving.

"Nope, none of that negativity. Prodigy or not, graduating from the Academy is a huge milestone in your life. I'm not letting you go until you let me take you out for a celebratory lunch."

"Do I even get a say in this?" Kakashi deadpanned.

Minato was all smiles when he responded with a cheerful, "Nope!"

And that was how Kakashi found himself being dragged along by the overly enthusiastic shinobi down the street to Ichiraku Ramen. Kakashi sat down in the stool closest to the right wall while Minato took a seat next to him, seemingly towering over him.

"This is my favorite place to eat," Minato commented, eyeing the young shinobi out of the corner of his eye.

"You mean you like to come here because Kushina nee does," Kakashi responded. He didn't miss the way the older man's cheeks turned slightly pink and how his hand moved to rub the back of his neck. Thankfully, Minato was saved from that particular conversation when Teuchi came to get their orders.

"Are you disappointed that your father couldn't be here?"

"No." There was no hesitation in Kakashi's response, but his expression told a different story.

"Do you want me to leave?"

"I-what?"

"You don't seem very happy to see me," Minato pointed out. "I realize that I'm not your father, but I'm hoping that you'll be able to see me as a friend?"

"Fine. I really hoped that tou san could have been here today, but I understand that war…" Kakashi couldn't even be bothered to finish his sentence because what did he know about war? Why were they even fighting in the first place?

Minato placed a hand on Kakashi's head, lightly ruffling his hair. "Don't worry. I'll do my best to end the war soon."

Kakashi was skeptical but didn't say anything in response. After all, this was coming from the man who was rumored to be the fourth leader, so his words were supposed to be somewhat reassuring, right?

"Are you free this afternoon?" Kakashi piped up, after ten minutes of silence. Curiosity was reflected in Minato's eyes as he wondered what was going through the young boy's mind.

"It's my day off. Why?"

"Can you train me?" Minato was taken entirely off guard. Never in a million years did Minato think that Kakashi would ask him for help, not when it seemed like the boy could hardly seem to tolerate him.

"Of course."

"Good," Kakashi said, tossing a few ryos onto the counter, despite Minato having said it was his treat. Grabbing him by the wrist, Kakashi began to tug him out of his seat, much to Minato's dismay as he wasn't able to get the opportunity to finish his ramen. "I told tou san I was going to surpass you one day, so I better get started."

Minato laughed.

Kakashi was certainly a character.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> Like I explained last chapter, there will be two plotlines: the past and present. The past plotline will serve to answer a lot of questions, such as how Kakashi ended up working for the Uchihas, explore Kakashi, Rin, and Itachi's backgrounds and what shaped them to act the way they do in present plotline. There will also be some foreshadowing involved for things that happens in the present timeline. For now, you can treat them as two separate plots, but they'll eventually converge together. Also, pay attention to ages in the past chapters; I don't stick to one age.
> 
> My favorite part was the Minato-Kakashi bonding moment. Kid Kakashi has lots of potential to be adorable. :) 
> 
> Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think!  
> -MM


	4. Another One

**Present**

Rotation day always had a special meaning for her. But today, rotation day meant three things for her.

One, the hospital would be packed with returning shinobis to get their check up. More likely than not, that always meant Rin had to pull double shifts, maybe even triple shifts. It didn't help that the majority of the shinobis tended to avoid the hospital like the plague, so having to track down those who didn't willingly come to the hospital made their jobs infinitely harder.

Two, her roommate, Akiara Hyuga, was set to be sent out on this particular rotation.

Three, her best friend, Obito Uchiha, was coming back.

And that made her day infinitely brighter. For once, Rin was actually excited to go to work, so elated that Akiara had spotted her weird behavior.

"Don't tell me you're in that mood cause you're so happy that I'm going to be gone for three months," Akiara commented drily as she sealed the last of her gear into a scroll. Tucking the scroll into one of the many pockets on her backpack, she zipped it up, swinging it onto her back.

"No, my friend is coming back today," Rin corrected, tossing another scroll at Akiara. "Here, some extra medical supplies since you're so reckless."

Akiara had the nerve to roll her eyes, but accepted the scroll nonetheless, slipping it into her pocket. "Lover boy?"

"We're just friends," Rin insisted.

"Sure doesn't seem like it," Akiara commented. "I see him around more often than I see my brother and that's saying a lot."

"He was the first person that was nice to me when I first came here, that's all."

"If you say so," Akiara said. "Look, I gotta go before my brother gets onto me again for being late. See you in three months!"

Rin was barely able to say goodbye before Akiara rushed out of the apartment, backpack bouncing up and down her back as she descended down the stairs and onto the street, running at full speed to get to the front gates of the village. Rin smothered her laugh; Akiara's habit of always arriving right on time was still amusing to her. Especially the fact that Akiara always resolved to get there early, but somehow always ended up being almost late every single time.

Sparing a glance at the clock on the wall, Rin noted that it was time that she left as well, lest she ended up following Akiara's footsteps.

At the hospital, the gossip had already started. Although Rin normally didn't condone gossiping as it may potentially violate a patient's privacy, she did have to admit that gossip made her shift a bit more bearable.

Today's topic of discussion happened to be one of her favorites: battlefield stories. Having never been on the battlefield, all that she knew of the battlefield was through stories from her patients and Obito, although the latter hardly enjoyed discussing it and tended to stray away from the topic when he could.

The first platoon had already arrived, Rin gathered within the first five minutes of eavesdropping, and a group of nurses was already engaged in a heated debate of whether or not the Uchiha side was winning the war.

"Of course they are!" the girl with short, black hair insisted. "It's Obito Uchiha's platoon; he's one of Itachi sama's most trusted generals, so he must be very talented." Rin's interest piqued upon hearing her friend's name. Did that mean he was already here or was he doing his best to avoid coming to the hospital like usual?

"If that was the case, then why did a shinobi tell me that they had lost half of their unit in an ambush by the Yellow Flash?" an older girl shot back, irritation written all over her face. "I know you're infatuated with Obito, but that doesn't mean he's infallible."

"That's an exception," the younger girl proceeded to argue back. "No platoon would be able to effectively counter an ambush from the Yellow Flash, so you can't base it off of that. Aside from that, we're holding strong on that front."

"Until the Yellow Flash comes through and actually decimates the entire unit," the older girl stated wryly. "Stop being so naive. Don't you understand the ambush was just a warning? And Sora Uchiha has such a massive ego that he won't take the warning seriously. Just you wait, soon you'll see the entire platoon carted through the door in body bags."

The younger girl gasped. Rin decided that the argument had gone far enough, and wedged her body between the two girls. The other medics that had crowded around the two had wisely chosen to back off.

"Instead of arguing over something that isn't even within our control, the two of you could be tending to patients," Rin stated. Placing a hand on the older girl's shoulder, she gently pushed her in the direction of the ICU wards. "I'm sure Takahiro san would appreciate your assistance in his rounds."

A frown was etched over the girl's face, but one glance at the medical insignia on Rin's medical coat, signifying her status as the head medic, the girl shrugged off Rin's hand and headed towards the ICU ward. One look from Rin and the rest of the observers wisely scattered, pretending to be busy even if there was nothing to do.

All that was left was the younger girl, who refused to meet Rin's eyes no matter how many times Rin tried to make eye contact with her. She wrung her hands nervously, before placing her hands rigidly by her side. When Rin inched closer, the girl took a nervous step backwards before hesitantly taking a step forward to retain her former position.

A beat of sweat rolled down from her forehead, trickling down to the side of her face, to her chin…

"She was the one who started it!" the girl exclaimed, finally unable to take the pressure any longer. In her outburst, the girl made eye contact with Rin, but she quickly averted her eyes as if she was reminded again that she was supposed to avoid looking at her.

"It won't happen again," the girl added, so quietly that Rin almost missed it.

"What's your name?"

The girl jerked her head up in alarm, eyes meeting Rin's for a brief second before she ducked her head once more. "Emi. Please don't kick me out, I really need this job so I can support the rest of my family. My mom is sick and I have a ten year old sister at home and I-"

"Who said anything about kicking you out?" Rin interjected, cutting off the girl's monologue. "You're going to be my assistant today and if you can't keep up, then you can go home."

Emi nodded vigorously, eagering following RIn to the section of the hospital reserved for medical check ups. There, she spotted at least fifteen shinobis lounging in the waiting area, chatting quietly amongst themselves. One of the men was standing up, pacing aimlessly in front of one of the rooms.

That man turned, pacing back in her direction when his head looked up from the floor. Recognition flooded his features.

"Rin," Obito called. Fifteen pairs of eyes landed on her. Emi maneuvered herself so that Rin's body completely shielded her from view. Rin wasn't sure if it was due to all of the attention or because her idol, Obito, was present.

"Why is everyone here so incompetent?" Obito whined as he walked up to her. "Toshiro was injured and the field medic already treated him. He seemed to be getting better until a couple hours before we got back; his condition has been worsening. Three medics have already looked at him, but couldn't figure out what's wrong."

"Was he poisoned?"

"Yes, but the field medic already took care of it."

"Maybe the antidote isn't as effective as it's supposed to be," Rin responded. "Where is he?"

Obito pointed at a room, the one where he had been pacing in front of before. Rin nodded, motioning Emi to follow her.

"Get his file," Rin instructed before stepping inside of the room. Upon first glance, everything seemed to be normal: breathing patterns, complexion. Rin began to take Toshiro's vitals, calling out the numbers for Emi to jot down on the clipboard. Everything seemed perfectly fine, but the nagging feeling persisted in the back of her mind.

Rin gently shook his shoulders, coaxing him to wake up. With an excruciating amount of effort, Toshiro eventually opened his eyes, looking extremely disorientated.

"Where am I?" he murmured, his eyes unable to focus on anything in particular.

"The hospital. Can you tell me where you feel uncomfortable?"

"Hospital? Aren't I supposed to be on the battlefield? I'm supposed to be there for another month."

_Confusion. Possibly delirium._

"Can you tell me where you feel uncomfortable?" Rin repeated.

"I don't know, I feel really sleepy. Can you let me sleep?" When Rin saw Toshiro's eyes begin to glaze over, she snapped her fingers, jerking him awake once more.

"I need you to tell me more than that; otherwise, I won't be able to help you."

Toshiro frowned. "It hurts to breathe; there's pain in my chest. I feel really dizzy too, why is the room spinning? Don't make me get up, I feel like I'll throw up if you do."

With that, Toshiro's eyes closed once more, head lolling off to the side. Rin motioned for Emi to come to her side and she did, standing rigidly next to Rin. Grabbing the clipboard and pen out of Emi's hand, Rin began to scribble down his symptoms below his vitals.

_Confusion. Nausea. Chest pain. Hurts to breathe._

It hurts to breathe? Then why were his breathing patterns normal? Unless...his body was forcing him to breath despite the pain associated with it.

Rin flipped back to the previous page, page filled with notes from the field medic who first tended him. Broken ribs, heavy blood loss, deep gash in the stomach, various scrapes and bruises, poison. A metal based poison that attacked the lungs, created by Tsunade three months ago. That might explain the chest pain, but why did the field medic's notes indicate that Toshiro's condition was getting better?

Surely by now, the Senjus would have figured out that Rin had already created an antidote for it, so why were they still using the same poison?

Stuffing the clipboard back into Emi's hands, Rin hastily tied her long, brown hair into a ponytail, tucking the stray pieces of hair behind her ears. Her hands glowed green, hovering around his chest area.

His lungs were completely normal, except for minimal scarring of the tissue from the original poison. The scarring wouldn't explain the chest pain nor any of his other symptoms, so it had to be something else.

Her hands moved down his body, stopping at his ribcage to confirm that his ribs had already been mended. Then it hit her, Rin exactly what those symptoms sounded like.

Kidney failure. Her hands hovered around his kidneys. Just as she thought, a corrosive toxin was eating away at his kidneys, slowly and practically invisible. So slow that by the time symptoms started to show, it would be almost too late to save him. And to mix it with another poison to give them a sense of safety once the patient was cured of the other poison and would exhibit signs of recovery...Rin had underestimated Tsunade.

Then again, Tsunade had underestimated her too. Rin had approximately twelve hours between the symptoms showing and before the damage was beyond repair to find an antidote. Judging the extent of the damage, Rin had about four hours left.

Hardly enough time, but Rin would make it work. She wasn't about to lose to Tsunade now.

Turning to Emi, Rin began to rattle off a list of things that she needed. Emi wore a panicked look on her face, hastily scribbling down the items as it left Rin's mouth. While Emi ran off to collect the items, Rin stuck her head outside, motioning for Obito to come.

"I need you to gather everyone who may have been injured in that attack."

"What, why?"

"Slow acting poison," Rin stated. "Depending on the person, symptoms can start showing earlier or later, so I need you to get them here. Even if they feel fine."

Obito nodded, turning away to relay her orders to his group, right as Emi came running back, with all of the items in her arms. Grabbing the bucket of water, Rin poured a bit in the pan while Emi set down the rest of the supplies onto the counter.

"Watch what I am doing," Rin instructed. "I'll need you to keep making this while I forcibly extract the poison out of his body." Emi nodded, eyes wide as she watched every step to make the mixture. Rin left Emi to stir the mixture, ducking her head outside once more two soliciting the help from two shinobis.

"Hold him down. Don't let him move."

Nodding at Emi to continue making the mixture, Rin channeled chakra to her palm, making the glob stick to her palm. Her forearm pressed down on Toshiro's chest; one shinobi pinned down his legs while the other held down his arms. After receiving confirmation from both shinobis that they were ready to go, Rin made a small cut in Toshiro's body and pushed the mixture through.

The reaction was instantaneous. Toshiro thrashed about, but the two shinobis kept his limbs pinned to the bed. Pushing a bit of chakra to her forearm, Rin strengthened her hold on Toshiro.

_Just hold on, it'll be painful, but it'll be over soon._

Rin extracted the glob from Toshiro's torso, staring at the hardly visible traces of poison. It was translucent; the only sign that it was there at all was the faint outline of the substance due to the differences in density and viscosity. Rin released the mixture, letting it slosh into the pan. Emi grabbed the pan, replacing it with another as Rin repeated the procedure all over again.

At some point through the process, Obito returned, giving her an update. There were five other shinobis that had been injured during that ambush. Four felt no symptoms while one felt the beginnings of discomfort in his chest, but hadn't been serious enough to warrant attention.

"Okay, tell everyone that check ups will be postponed until after I figure out an antidote for this. Keep those five shinobis here. Emi, clean up the area and go take their vitals." Grabbing one of the pans, Rin exited the room, heading straight for the labs.

After entering the passcode, the doors swung open and Rin stepped inside, moving towards her favorite corner in the testing area. Setting down the pan on the countertop, she put on her goggles and gloves. She pulled out large notebooks containing all of her notes from the drawers attached to the underside of the counters. Flipping through the yellowing and brittle pages, she perused through her own messy handwriting, coming across to the information that she had gathered about the plants that flourished near Senju territory.

Three of the components in the poison Rin was already certain of, the creator was Tsunade after all. Even the best poisons experts had their own signature in regards to making poison, and for Tsunade, that always seemed to be keeping the base of the poison the same, while tweaking the other components to have different effects. And for Rin, that always made her job so much easier, as she already could easily narrow down the ingredients needed for the antidote.

The fourth component was no trouble either, there weren't many things that could make the poison completely translucent.

The problem always laid with the last component, the mysterious one. The first couple of times, Tsunade had been predictable, using plants commonly found near or on the Senju lands. Yet last time, it had taken Rin sixteen hours to crack the metal based poison because she would have never thought that Tsunade would manage to acquire a plant commonly found in the desert, the track of land that was typically known to be "no man's land." After that time, Rin didn't rule out a single possibility.

Flipping through a notebook dedicated to all of the formulas for antidotes specifically to counter Tsunade's poison, Rin flipped to an empty page and began to scribble down the newest formula. It would take a lot of scratching out and backtracking, three sheets of paper, before the formula was finalized.

Extracting a bit of poison from the sample, Rin unraveled a scroll, dripping a bit of the poison in the center of the scroll. With her other hand, Rin tipped over the contents in the beaker, letting a droplet splash onto the scroll.

Rin grinned in satisfaction when she watched the drop of poison on the scroll fizzle out of appearance completely. And just in a little under four hours, her fastest record at cracking one of Tsunade's poisons. She could already imagine the look of fury on Tsunade's face, when someone inevitably delivered the news to her.

When Rin returned to Toshiro's medical room, Obito was still there. He shot out of his seat upon her entrance and watched her intently as she administered the antidote, injecting it into Toshiro's bloodstream.

"He should be good now," Rin announced. "I'm going to go make another batch for the rest of your platoon."

Obito nodded numbly, letting out a relieved sigh. Rin rounded the hospital bed, reaching over to pull Obito into a hug.

"What would I have done without you?" Obito murmured.

Rin chuckled. "Now you understand the awesomeness of medics. Shinobis don't know how to appreciate us until they get injured." Rin pulled away, stepping out of Obito's arms.

"I'm going to make another batch. Inform Uchiha sama for me, will you?"

Obito gave her an affirmative and watched her leave the room. Obito's gut instinct was to inform Kakashi of Toshiro's condition, but he had been forced to stay behind at the post, so it would be a few more days until Kakashi returned.

Instead, Obito settled for sitting by Toshiro's bedside, wishing his cousin for a quick recovery.

* * *

Itachi felt an impending headache coming. There seemed to be a lot of those lately, literally and figuratively, as the war began to reach new heights. There always seemed to be something that warranted his attention, day and night. With every new update, Itachi was always reminded again why he never wanted to become clan leader.

All of the burden and pressure fell onto his shoulders.

Documents were splayed out on his desk. Two off of the right were updates from his commanders at two outposts, luckily containing nothing of importance. The paper in the center of the desk belonged to Obito, detailing the ambush on their outpost by a team led by the Yellow Flash.

And today, another shinobi informed him that his childhood friend, Toshiro, had been poisoned. Another one of Tsunade's creations, he was told.

The fourth document on his desk contained a list of potential matches for marriage, courtesy of the Uchiha elders. Itachi had to resist the urge to rip the paper to shreds when he first received it earlier that day and now it laid on his desk, seemingly mocking him.

Itachi already had his hands full with the war; he didn't need another one.

For the umpteenth time, Itachi longed for the freedom of simply being a soldier, to be able to fight on the frontlines. To not have to worry about the ever lasting tensions between the Uchiha and Hyuga, to not have to deal with the Uchiha elders breathing down his neck about every little thing, to not have to be in control of every decision that could cost someone their life.

But if he was simply a soldier, then the war would never end.

The fifth document was the outline of a tentative peace treaty, written with his impeccable handwriting. Despite that, the entire document was a mess, full of crossed out lines and added notes to the side. Itachi couldn't come up with a peace treaty that was acceptable to the Uchiha clan without proposing terms that the Senjus would certainly scoff at.

That, and Itachi had no idea what was acceptable for the Senjus either. The Senjus had nominated a fourth leader, a man by the name of Minato Namikaze, or more famously known as the Yellow Flash. While Itachi had an inkling of an idea that the third leader, Hiruzen Sarutobi, had somewhat of a soft heart based on overheard conversations in the past with his father, Itachi didn't know if Minato was the same. From the accounts received from other shinobis, Minato was ruthless in the battlefield and that made him wonder if that translated into his view on peace.

Shisui teleported into the room, plopping down into a nearby chair, looking as worn out as Itachi was. Yet both of them were too stubborn to admit that they needed a break.

"Anything?"

Shisui shook his head. "The only intel that I found solidified the fact that we have a mole, but it doesn't narrow down the list. Could be anyone."

"No guesses?"

"The Senju are very careful about the intel that they receive, which doesn't really reveal to us how much info the mole knows. I suspect they are indulging us for now, but are planning something huge."

"I don't suppose we can just throw this war, can we?" Itachi murmured.

"Well if it's any consolation, I don't think the Senju want any part in the war either. After all, we were the ones who incited it."

"They also haven't reached out to discuss the idea of peace like they have in the past."

"Neither have we," Shisui countered. "Perhaps we should be the first to show a sign of good faith this time around."

"The clan would never approve; they're the ones who wanted this war. Even if we reach a forced peace, war will inevitably break out again in the future. It's an endless cycle."

"We'll find a way," Shisui assured him. "Don't forget the resolve you made all those years ago."

"I won't."

"Good, now go and get some rest. You look like you're about to topple over."

Itachi scoffed. "Speak for yourself."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll let you know if I find anything new." With that, Shisui left as quickly as he came.

Itachi leaned back in his seat, staring blankly up at the ceiling.

When will this all be over?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> Sorry, the beginning of this story is quite slow but I promise that it's necessary to lay the foundation - especially since this is an AU - and I anticipate the 2nd half will be much more exciting. :)
> 
> Itachi makes a cameo here; the next chapter will explore his past because he does end up being a crucial supporting character. 
> 
> Also ages for present time if you're curious:  
> -Kakashi/Rin/Obito: 24  
> -Itachi: 18-19 (Shisui is 2 years older than him)
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> -MM


	5. Inevitable Friendship

**Past**

At the tender age of five, the notion that he would one day become the clan heir was imprinted in his mind. It was from that point forward did Itachi's five year old mind come to terms with the fact that he simply was different from everyone else. Different in the way that he garnered respect from Uchihas that were around his parents' age even as a five year old child. Different in the way that warranted parents to pull their children aside and scold them for addressing him as Itachi, sans any suffix. Different in the way that he felt that there was always a barrier between him and the other party, put up by the other party.

_Don't get too close_ , it seemed to warn.

At some point, Itachi's own walls went up.

_Heartless,_ they would call him. _Unapproachable. Apathetic._

The whispers, Itachi knew they were there. He didn't miss a single look of disdain thrown his way when they thought he wasn't looking, or the hushed whispers between his classmates at the Academy when they boldly assumed that he was out of earshot, or the way older siblings would place a hand on their younger siblings and pull them back if they moved to approach Itachi.

No, they were constantly there and Itachi wondered how he had missed them before, living blissfully for five years.

And they weren't only limited to him. His father had gotten the same treatment, Itachi noted, as he walked alongside his father on their way to the council meeting. His mother too, when she brought Itachi along for grocery shopping. Yet for every glare that was given, his mother returned a smile of her own.

"Kaa san, why do they look at us funny?" Five year old Itachi had tugged on his mother's sleeve to get her attention. Her dark eyes turned to face him, weary lines etched all around her eyes. A faint smile graced her lips, yet it didn't hold the same vibrancy that Itachi was used to seeing.

"You know your father is the leader of this village, right?"

Itachi nodded.

"Well as the leader of the village, your father has to make some unpopular decisions and not every villager is happy with that right now."

Itachi frowned. "But his decision would have been for the good of the village, right?"

His mother nodded. "In theory, yes; however, not all of the villagers agree with his decision. I'm sorry that you are affected too, if anyone is bullying you let me know and I can-"

Itachi cut his mother off. "Kaa san, you don't need to worry about me."

Mikoto's eyes softened as she stared down at her five year old son. Already so mature, so understanding at his age.

"I trust tou san's judgment," Itachi added. "Whatever he did must have been for the best of the village. But can we go get dango?"

Mikoto's laugh could be heard five shops away. All the villagers turned their heads to witness the mother and son duo, the son clutching onto his mother's hand, while her other hand carried a bag of groceries down the street, seemingly oblivious to all of the attention that they were receiving.

* * *

Six year old Itachi may have been young, but he was no fool. From the moment a raven haired boy laid eyes on him, Itachi felt him staring. Yet even when Itachi tried to discreetly observe the raven hair boy, the boy still had no shame. A slight turn of the head, Itachi made eye contact with the older boy, yet the boy continued to stare.

Itachi was the first to turn his head away.

As Itachi trudged forward on the path home, he was distinctly aware that the boy was following him, keeping a good distance between the two of them. Not close enough to alarm Itachi, yet not far enough that Itachi could throw him off of his trail.

He continued to put one foot in front of another as his mind whirled with all sorts of possibilities of what the boy could possibly want from him. Did he come to criticize him about his father's actions like many of the older kids did? Was he sent by someone to catch him unaware? Was he a spy? Was he sent to take him down?

Itachi was praised by many to be a genius and even acknowledged that his intelligence was above average. His shinobi skills were nothing to be trifled with, easily outshining his peers, but he could win against an older shinobi?

His perfect kunai and shuriken aim, his newly acquired fireball jutsu, and his wits, would that be enough to take on the raven haired boy behind him?

At that thought, Itachi tossed another glance over his shoulder, ready to size up his potential enemy, but their eyes met again. Except this time, Itachi watched as the boy's lips curled up into a friendly smile. There was nothing but genuineness twinking in the boy's dark eyes as far as Itachi could tell.

Itachi felt his cheeks heating up and he quickly broke eye contact and turned back to face the road in front of him. He could hear his heart pounding in his chest, feel the sweat on his palms.

What was this feeling? Was he embarrassed because someone extended a friendly gesture? How could one simple gesture from a stranger make him feel like this?

He had been so distracted that he hadn't realized the boy ran up to him until he felt a hand on his shoulder. Out of instinct, Itachi swatted the hand away, backing away a couple of steps, and positioned his limbs into a fighting stance.

The boy merely stared at him for a few seconds, blinking twice, before speaking. "Your stance is wrong, you know. You are extending your left foot too far out, if you try to strike with your hands, you won't be properly situated so you'll most likely topple over."

Oh, was the boy simply here to criticize him?

Itachi responded by reverting back to a normal standing position, crossing his tiny arms over his chest in an effort to seem more intimidating. Yet with his lack of height, Itachi highly doubted that he reached his desired outcome.

"What do you want?" Curt. Cold. Blunt. All traits his classmates had associated with him.

"I was simply curious why a kid your age was alone. Aren't kids your age always hanging out in big groups?"

Itachi narrowed his eyes. The boy seemed too condescending for his liking. "That's none of your business."

The boy placed both of his hands in the air, palms facing in Itachi's direction. "I mean no harm by that. I'm Shisui, by the way."

"I don't care." At this point, Itachi could practically hear his mother's voice scolding him in his head for his lack of manners. But Itachi didn't care; Shisui or whatever his name was, was seriously annoying him.

To Shisui's credit, he didn't seem to be offended in the slightest. Instead, Shisui let out a few light chuckles. "Oh, I'm sure that you'll come around one day."

_No I won't,_ Itachi thought. With a casual two finger salute, Shisui disappeared in a swirl of leaves. The younger boy sighed in relief; finally, the annoying boy had left him alone. With Shisui gone, Itachi continued his walk back home.

At his front door, Itachi was removing his sandals when he heard his mother's voice, inquiring why he had come home later than usual.

"It was nothing, kaa san. Just ran into a minor annoyance on the way home."

Indeed, a minor annoyance he should remain.

For the next week, Itachi's senses were highly alert for the raven haired boy, yet there was no trace of him. By the end of the week, Itachi relaxed marginally, convinced that Shisui's appearance was a one time thing.

To all, he was known to be quite an obedient child, always showed up to the Academy on time, never spoke back to a teacher, always did what was asked of him. Yet Itachi's rebellious streak had gotten the better of him.

It started off with the small things. Itachi first pretended to have not done his homework, showing up empty handed when it came time to hand it in. While other students had gotten a stern lecture, all Itachi had gotten was a pat on the back and the assurance that it was fine if Itachi brought in the homework tomorrow.

His six year old mind struggled to wrap itself around the special treatment. Was it because he was the clan heir?

The next act of rebellion had come in the form of stealing the chalk and eraser from the front of the room, stashing them in the cubby underneath his desk. When his sensei arrived, he had simply been annoyed when he was unable to find the materials, before he turned around to face the class, demanding the culprit to hand over the materials. His sensei had merely chalked it up to a prank at first, but when no one fessed up, his anger began to intensify. His sensei began to call out names, those who were typical troublemakers, yet all of them had no idea what he was talking about. He even resorted to rummaging through their belongings, yet turned up empty handed.

Not once during the entire investigation did his sensei bother to search him, much less even glance in his direction. His sensei simply passed over Itachi, when Itachi thought he would have searched him next.

By the very end, his sensei had given up, mumbling that he would be back, presumably off to retrieve those supplies from his office. While he was gone, Itachi had taken the opportunity to slip the two items back to its rightful place.

When his sensei came back, he noted the returned items. When he inquired who had returned it, everyone remained silent. Not a single soul ratted Itachi out.

And he hated it.

From there, Itachi was convinced that no one would care what he did. Even if they did happen to see him doing it, no one would have the courage to rat him out. So Itachi began leaving a clone in his place in the classroom, while his real body discreetly slipped out to the woods, where he continued target practice.

His aim was impeccable, praised by many shinobis, yet it grated on his own nerves that he had been unable to achieve his self imposed goal: to hit the target behind the tree. At any angle, any location, Itachi could always hit dead center of the target, except for the one that was completely out of his line of sight.

But today, Itachi was frustrated. Frustrated because the Uchiha elders were expecting so much out of him, a six year old boy. Already expecting him to learn the entire Uchiha history and customs when other children his age could barely read a complete sentence, much less an entire history book. His mother had fought against them, citing that Itachi should have the opportunity to experience a normal childhood, yet the elders fought back, arguing that he was anything but normal.

How Itachi wished he was though.

_Thunk. Thunk. Thunk._

The sound of kunai hitting its mark had never sounded so satisfying to him. With each throw, his anger renewed with vigor as his mind imagined that the targets were the Uchiha elders.

_You are the clan heir. Thunk._

_You should be expected to know these things. Thunk._

_You aren't taking your duty seriously. Thunk._

_The moment that you were born into this position, you were anything but normal. Thunk._

_You aren't like the other kids, we expect more from you. THUNK._

With so much anger boiling inside of him, Itachi rummaged through his weapons pouch, grabbing six kunais, lodging them between each finger. His eyes closed, his senses reaching out to feel for all six targets.

And he launched them with as much force as he could possibly muster. Itachi knew that he was going to miss the target that was hidden from sight, but that was alright with him. When the kunais left his hand, Itachi instantly felt a lot better.

The successive thunks of metal sinking into wood solidified that feeling. Yet what he hadn't expected was to hear the telltale sound of a clink, metal clashing against metal, followed by a resonant thunk. A kunai from his left side, hitting his sixth kunai, knocking it off of its stray course and into hitting its mark.

The target behind the tree.

Itachi moved to a fighting stance, but upon feeling the familiar chakra, he relaxed his stance. That didn't mean he still wasn't hyperaware and ready to fight off the annoying boy once more.

Itachi was hardly surprised when he saw the same annoying, raven haired boy that he had last seen a week and a half ago, step out from the trees, with the same friendly smile on his face.

"You'll never hit that target if you keep throwing it that way." By all rights, Itachi should have been annoyed that the boy was here to annoy him again, to patronize him again, but hearing those words made Itachi feel refreshed. For once, there was someone who wasn't focused on the fact that he had hit five targets dead in the center, but someone who was focused on the fact that he hadn't hit the sixth target. Someone who wasn't telling him he had done a good job, but someone who pointed out his flaws.

"I know that," Itachi stubbornly replied. Even if Itachi was glad to hear different words come out of Shisui's mouth from everyone else, that didn't mean the boy wasn't still annoying.

"You shouldn't be here; you're supposed to be in class."

Shisui raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? I could say the same about you."

Itachi ignored his jab. "What are you doing here?"

"For the same reason that you are," came Shisui's cryptic response. At Itachi's blank expression, Shisui added, "Who do you think put up these targets anyways?"

Understanding dawned on him. For all of his intelligence, Itachi hadn't really given a thought why there were targets in the middle of the woods when he first stumbled upon them three days ago.

"I see. I'm sorry for intruding." Slightly disheartened that he would have to go back to class, but knowing not to overstep his boundaries, Itachi made the first move to leave.

It was Shisui's voice that stopped him. "I didn't ask you to leave. I don't mind sharing."

A strange, warm feeling appeared in Itachi's chest. Sharing...such a foreign concept to him because there wasn't anything that he couldn't get if he wanted it.

Slowly, Itachi turned back around to face Shisui.

"I wouldn't want to intrude," Itachi repeated.

Shisui merely shrugged his shoulders. "I've already mastered target practice. Now it's your turn." As a show of friendship, Shisui extended his hand outward, two kunais resting on his outstretched palm.

Itachi eyed it warily.

"You'll never be able to hit the last target if you keep staring." That prompted Itachi to step forward, grab the two kunais and mumbled his gratitude in the process.

Itachi threw the first kunai with the precision he was known for, yet when he threw the second, attempting to knock it off its original trajectory like he had seen Shisui do, it failed to achieve its intended goal. The second kunai knocked into the first, sending both of them falling to the ground. He felt his cheeks heat up in embarrassment at having let a stranger witness his failure.

Shisui merely chuckled as he walked over to the targets, yanking the kunais from the wooden targets.

"It takes more than one try to succeed, you know," Shisui told him, as he continued to pluck off the kunais. "I know you are an intelligent person. Use your head to figure out how you're going to hit that target. Perhaps you will need more help to get to your target."

Itachi had been slow to figure out Shisui's underlying meaning and had taken his words literally. "No, I don't. I can do it with two kunais."

Shisui didn't bother to acknowledge his response. "You know, even the greatest, most infallible leaders need to have trustworthy people by his side."

Itachi narrowed his eyes. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because," Shisui drawled. "You keep pushing everyone away. You're the clan heir. One day, you will be the leader of this village and a leader cannot be successful without trustworthy people besides him. One man cannot do everything."

"Well I don't want to be the clan heir!" Itachi yelled. "I never asked for any of this. All of the elders are breathing down my neck because of my status, my father expects so much out of me, my senseis don't care what I do, I get treated differently by others, and I don't want any part in it!"

By the end of his rant, Itachi's face was completely red, his chest heaving as his lungs tried to recover some of the lost air. Shisui was smiling.

"I'm glad that you let it out," Shisui said. "Bottling up your emotions isn't good for you."

"Why do you care?"

"As a fellow Uchiha, I care about my clansmen. Besides, I'm not in the same position as you, but I know how it feels to have people hold me to such high expectations. It's not the same, but I understand a fraction of what you feel. I can tell you that alienating everyone is not a healthy coping method."

"They're the ones who don't want to approach me."

"And the ones that do?"

"Who-?" Itachi's eyes fell upon the raven haired boy in front of him, the realization hitting him.

"Well you were really annoying at first," Itachi murmured in his defense.

Shisui chuckled. "I'm glad that I'm less annoying now."

"No, you still are. I just have more tolerance now."

"Guess we'll have to work on that."

Itachi's heart didn't agree with his mind. At some point, Shisui had to leave, but Itachi stayed after, even long after classes had let out for the day, to stay behind to practice. He was determined to master the technique, so that he could show Shisui next time.

Was there even a next time? Why was Itachi already anticipating a next time?

When Itachi went home that day, three hours later than he was supposed to, donning scrapes and bruises all over, dried leaves and small branches stuck in his hair and clothes, he had gotten a scolding from his mother. A scolding, then fussing over all of his injuries, then stern orders to go clean himself up.

Itachi was wise enough to not say anything in response.

Despite all of that, it had been worth it, when Shisui had shown up at the same place the following week and Itachi was able to execute the move flawlessly. The thunk of the metal hitting against the wood had never sounded more satisfying than when Shisui smiled with pride.

"Not bad. Now try combining it with hitting the other targets at the same time."

And everyday after that, Shisui and Itachi had a wordless agreement that they would skip classes to meet at the spot. As the weeks passed, Shisui continued to teach Itachi all of his kunai tricks; Itachi had never learned more than he did under anyone else's tutelage.

Perhaps spending time with this annoying boy wasn't too bad after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> As you can tell, this chapter was heavily inspired by Anbu Itachi arc, with my own twist to fit this AU. I really love Itachi-Shisui friendship, shame that they didn't get much screentime in canon. 
> 
> I'd always thought writing Kakashi was hard and then I wrote Itachi and realized grasping his character is way harder, so hopefully it turned out ok! Next chapter(s), plot is going to start rolling, so sit tight. :) 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Until next time.   
> -MM


	6. The Mission

**Present**

Everything had been going according to plan: Ren and Kaito didn't get into another scuffle, the replacement team arrived on time, and those set to go home were ready to go by the meetup time. That was, until Toshiro Uchiha keeled over moments before they were set to depart, after exhibiting signs of recovery over the last few days.

Sora Uchiha had been thoroughly unimpressed at the display, muttering something along the lines of the younger generation being weaker. Obito overheard him and wanted to say something back in Toshiro's defense, but Kakashi held him back.

"It's not worth it," Kakashi told him. "What's important is getting Toshiro medical treatment, right away."

Their departure was delayed another hour as the field medic attempted to figure out what was wrong with Toshiro, but came up short. The best course of action was to bring Toshiro back to the hospital to get treated, but doing so meant that the camp's leadership would be reduced from three to one. Sora's second in command wasn't due to arrive for another three days and Toshiro had originally been set to stay.

Obito sent the rest of the platoon along, instructing them to start heading back to the village with an unconscious Toshiro in tow, while Obito and Kakashi stayed behind to hash out the problem of Toshiro's vacancy.

"I think you should stay," Obito told him. "It's not good for an outpost to be only with one leader."

"Me? You know Sora Uchiha hates my guts," Kakashi responded dryly. It wasn't that Kakashi was unwilling, but rather, being under Sora's watchful eye made it infinitely more difficult to sneak out.

Kakashi's meeting with the Senjus was long overdue.

"Yes, but it'll only be for three days," Obito tried to placate. "I'll get Itachi to send a replacement for Toshiro as soon as possible."

"Then why don't you stay?" Kakashi asked, despite already knowing the answer.

"We are of the same rank. Like hell am I going to work under Sora," Obito scowled, annoyance etched across his face at even the possibility of doing so. "Besides, he hates me as much as he hates you, so take one for the team, alright?"

With that, Obito shot him an apologetic smile, patting him lightly on the shoulder before he departed, hurrying to catch up with the rest of the platoon. Kakashi sighed in defeat, steeling himself to be ready to face Sora.

As his feet carried him closer to the commander's tent, every fiber of his being urged him to turn back. Kakashi faked a smile and nodded in greeting at his passing subordinates, while his mind was filled with all of the possibilities of what Sora was going to dish out at him this time.

Multiple times, Sora interrogated him, always trying to paint him out to be disloyal to the Uchiha side. The accusations ranged from Kakashi purposely sabotaging his own units, which - for the record - had never been the case, to him being a Senju informant. His baseless accusations never got him anywhere.

Kakashi simply got the satisfaction of continually moving up the ranks every time he saw Sora, starting from a lowly shinobi under Sora's command to now being second in command of his own platoon.

The last time Kakashi encountered Sora, he had given up the interrogations and instead challenged him to a match. It ended in a draw, but both Sora and Kakashi knew that he had thrown the match for the sake of keeping Sora's reputation and prestige intact. And Kakashi had no doubt that Sora was still bitter about losing the match to this day.

With that in mind, Kakashi forced a fake smile on his face before he stepped into the commander's tent, not bothering to announce his presence. Sora's head jerked up from the table, dark eyes landing in his direction, staring at him intensely.

Kakashi gave a small wave as his way of greeting. "Yo."

Displeasure was written all over Sora's face, accentuating the lines in his forehead. "Get on with it, Hatake. Don't waste my time."

Well, Kakashi supposed this was one of the nicer responses that he received from Sora. Perhaps in their last spar, he had won Sora's grudging respect? Kakashi could only dream.

"Just wanted to let you know that I'm going to fill in for Toshiro until Hiro arrives."

Sora scoffed. "Do you really think that your presence really makes a difference? I can run the entire camp by myself; I don't need your help. Now go make yourself useful by staying out of my way."

Ah, there was the Sora Uchiha that Kakashi knew.

"Sure, if you say so," Kakashi responded cheerfully, in a mocking manner. Sora's eyes narrowed, lips pressed tightly together. "Bye!"

Kakashi took the opportunity to leave the tent before Sora went on another one of his tirades. Another shinobi slipped into the tent right as Kakashi left. He lingered for a few moments, flinching as he heard Sora's booming voice yelling for the other shinobi to leave. Ducking off to the side, Kakashi watched as the shaken shinobi exited the tent, muttering his own choice of words underneath his breath.

Angering Sora had quickly become one of Kakashi's favorite pastimes.

Laughing quietly to himself at how easily Sora was angered, Kakashi took off towards the outposts. If Sora wanted him out of the way, then Kakashi would be.

Kakashi took a stroll around the entire outpost, making sure everyone was in their appropriate positions. One group had the audacity to fall asleep on the job, to which Kakashi frightened the daylights out of them by transforming into the Yellow Flash. At first sight, both shinobis fell out of the trees, landing hard on their asses. Wide eyed, both shinobis hastily attempted to crawl backwards as Kakashi advanced on them.

Figuring that the two of them had learned their lesson, Kakashi dropped the henge, much to both of their reliefs.

"Imagine if I was actually the enemy," Kakashi lectured. "You would have been dead before you could even open your eyes. And then what? The rest of your comrades also die because you failed to do your duty and warn them of the impending danger."

Both of them repeatedly assured him that it wouldn't happen again. Shooting one last skeptical look towards them, Kakashi bounded off to the next watch group, not before making sure the two shinobis resumed their post.

Ren and Kaito were squatting in separate trees, doing their best to ignore each other. Even though they were at least ten feet apart, the tension that radiated off of their bodies was thick enough that Kakashi could barely breathe. He moved away from the duo, leaving the two of them to brood in silence.

Kakashi took a break under the base of a tree, in one of the outpost's blindspots. The same spot that the Senjus had used to infiltrate the area and ambush Toshiro's squad. Spreading out his chakra, Kakashi tried to detect if there was anyone else around.

All clear.

Running through a familiar sequence of hand seals, a carbon copy of himself popped up beside him. He gave instructions to his clone to wander around the outpost to give himself an alibi, but not to get too close with anyone. While his clone slipped off, Kakashi henged himself into his alter ego, which he had dubbed Sukea.

Unruly brown hair, gray contacts, nondescript civilian pants and a green jacket, topped off by a scarf wrapped around the bottom half of his face. To complete the disguise, Kakashi had purple paint above and below his eyes to cover up the scar that ran from the upper part of his eyelid through the eyebrow of his left eye.

Suppressing his chakra, Kakashi slipped out of the Uchiha outpost, careful to stay out of sight from Ren and Kaito's watchful eyes.

* * *

It was a self imposed challenge to see how hard it was to slip past the shinobis on guard duty at the front gate to the village. Kakashi could have sent Pakkun to deliver a message to Minato or Hiruzen to inform them of his presence, but he wanted to have some fun.

Kakashi inched forward, flaring his chakra a tiny bit to see if they would notice. They didn't. In fact, one of them looked like he was going to fall asleep at any moment, while two of them were bored out of their minds. The fourth paced aimlessly back and forth, attention on everything and anything but the front gate. The fifth was laying on his back, cloud gazing.

Grabbing a nearby pebble, Kakashi tossed it up and down in his hand while he contemplated the best course of action. He tossed the pebble, letting it strike right below where two of the shinobis were standing. They immediately snapped to attention, but before they had a chance to warn their comrades, Kakashi had already trapped them into a genjutsu.

From there, slipping past a guy who had fallen asleep, one that was cloud gazing, and one that was too busy wearing a hole in his shinobi sandals than actually paying attention, was all too easy. By the time the other two shinobis snapped out of the genjutsu, Kakashi was long gone, already blending himself in with the villagers.

No alarms were raised; both had chalked it up to a figment of their imaginations.

The village was exactly as Kakashi had remembered it. The same bustling marketplace spanning seven blocks long, filled with shopkeepers advertising their products, his childhood favorite food stands, and the quaint weapons shop hidden in the corner of the fifth block famed for creating the three pronged kunai. His eyes lingered on the store signs, worn from years of wear and tear. The familiar faces of the shopkeepers, donning a few more wrinkles than he remembered. The children lining up in front of the dango store, taking advantage of the shop's discount on the second day of the week.

So many things had changed, yet it still felt like home. Fourteen years since he left the village.

Kakashi was jerked out of his nostalgia when he saw Asuma walking down the street in his direction, walking side by side with a raven haired woman. Ducking in the nearest alleway, Kakashi pressed his back against the wall as he waited for his former friend to pass.

Asuma did. A cigarette protruded from the corner of his mouth as he spoke animatedly to the woman next to him, using his hands to emphasize his point. Kakashi forced himself to look away, lest he got any stupid ideas in his head to reveal himself.

They weren't friends anymore. Kakashi had to accept that.

Kakashi should have gone straight to Minato's office. Instead, he found his feet carrying him to the cemetery. He passed the memorial stone, the rows of individual graves, until he reached the very edge of the cemetery. In the very back, away from all of the other headstones. Weeds covered the headstone to the point where Kakashi could barely read the faint writing etched onto the stone tablet.

_Sakumo Hatake._

His fingers trembled as he reached out to lightly brush against the edge of the headstone. A million things ran through Kakashi's mind, yet the words remained lodged in the back of his throat. Slowly, Kakashi got onto his knees and bowed his head out of respect.

_Tou san, are you proud of me?_

His only answer was a light breeze from the wind, sending the tail end of his scarf fluttering in the wind.

_I'm sorry._

Two simple words. A lifetime of guilt and regret.

Kakashi picked himself back up, brushing the pieces of grass that stuck to his pants. His fingers itched to pull out the weeds, to restore the spot to its former glory. To the glory that his father deserved. Yet, the rational part of his mind reminded him that it would have been too suspicious. No one ever visited this grave.

And no one ever would.

Leaving was the hardest part, but Kakashi was a shinobi to the core. He had a mission to complete.

Kakashi scaled up the side of the tower, scarf fluttering in the air behind him as he climbed five floors in just under a minute. Taking advantage of the slight crack in the window - his sensei always did like to keep the window open, even if he had been hounded multiple times before about it not being safe - Kakashi pushed up the window and slid into the office, landing lightly on his feet.

Minato's head snapped up, whirling around in his desk chair to launch the nearest projectile, which happened to be the pen in his hand, at Kakashi. Having already anticipated the move, Kakashi cocked his head to the side, letting the pen hit the wall behind him, bouncing harmless against it and falling to the floor.

Kakashi held his hands up in a sign of peace as Minato was poised to launch another projectile at him, this time, one of his signature three pronged kunais. Forming the seal, Kakashi undid the henge, allowing his natural features to take over once more.

"Kakashi!" Minato exclaimed. Seemingly realizing his mistake, Minato stood up from his seat, pushing the window closed and tugging on the blinds. Then he proceeded to form the seals for a sound barrier, before speaking once more. "You didn't tell me you were coming."

Kakashi shrugged. "It was kind of impromptu. Saw my opportunity to slip away, so I came."

Minato frowned. "You're getting reckless."

"It was a calculated move, don't worry. Besides, I got lucky to be assigned with one of the most dense Uchihas."

Minato shook his head. There was always no use in arguing with Kakashi. "Wait here, I'm going to go get Hiruzen san. We have lots to discuss."

Lots to discuss, indeed.

The next hour was spent mapping out each of the locations of the Uchiha's outpost to the best of Kakashi's knowledge along with known commanders in each location.

"Sora Uchiha has replaced my outpost," Kakashi told them. "I'm going to be back in the village for the next three months, so I'll have more time to scout around."

Minato nodded. "How is the poison working?"

"Poison?"

"In our last ambush," Minato clarified. "We were testing Tsunade san's newest poison. I'm not privy to all of the details, but supposedly, it's supposed to be slow acting. By the time they notice, it will be too late."

Kakashi racked his brain to try to remember what the field medic had told him, but he hadn't cared all that much about the details, only that Toshiro and the other men were recovering nicely. Toshiro had recovered so well that he even had the energy to walk around the camp…

Until he collapsed this morning.

"Oh. One of them had recovered, but suddenly collapsed again today. Is it the poison?"

"I think so-"

Minato never got to finish his sentence as Tsunade came storming into the office, seemingly having no qualms in doing so. Each of her steps reverberated through the room, reflecting exactly how pissed off she was. Tsunade slammed a piece of paper down on Minato's desk with enough force to make the furniture shake.

"Read this," Tsunade demanded, sliding the paper towards Minato. Hiruzen leaned forward in his seat, craning his neck to view the paper. Kakashi simply looked over his sensei's shoulders, taking in the five words that had made the Senju's most prized medic so angry.

_Rin Nohara found a cure._

"Already?" Kakashi piped up.

Tsunade's amber eyes honed in on him. "What do you mean 'already'?"

"He just started showing symptoms this morning, so he's being brought back to the village to be treated."

Tsunade snorted. "Clearly I have underestimated the girl, whoever she is. If it wasn't for the spy, we wouldn't have never even gotten a name."

"Clanless...what is she doing working for the Uchihas?" Minato questioned. "The Uchiha do not treat those without a clan well, so I am surprised to hear that she is so loyal to the Uchiha."

"The reason doesn't matter," Tsunade stated. "At this rate, we will never gain the upperhand. We need to eliminate her."

"Eliminate?" Minato repeated. "That's a bit harsh, don't you think? What if she was coerced into working for the Uchiha? Or maybe she was manipulated into doing their bidding? Based on what Kurenai told us, there's a lot of orphans that are being held there against their will…"

Tsunade shot Minato a glare. "Soft hearted as always, Minato. What are the odds that someone in Kurenai's position could become a talented medical ninja? Kurenai had an advantage since her father was a shinobi, but many of those orphans are civilians. They don't know what chakra even is, much less use it."

"She's right, Minato," Hiruzen added softly. "Unfortunately, this is war."

"You want to end the war quickly, right? We're currently at a stalemate because both of our forces are relatively evenly matched. We need to gain the upperhand somehow and getting rid of the girl would give us the advantage. Who else will be able to counter my poisons then?"

Minato turned to Kakashi. "Kakashi, I hate to ask, but can you…?"

Kakashi nodded.

"It will be done."

* * *

Kakashi didn't bother to go back to camp. The following day, his clone had already poofed out of existence, the memories returning to his mind. One in particular floated to the forefront of his memories, the one featuring Sora curtly dismissing him as his second in command had arrived earlier than anticipated.

Just as well, Kakashi could head straight back to the village.

The travel back was relatively boring. Usually, Kakashi would have Obito chatting his ears off; even if Kakashi was pressed to admit it, he did enjoy Obito's company from time to time. Yet this time, there was nothing but solitude and silence. And lots of greenery surrounding him from all sides.

Thunk. Thunk. His feet barely landed atop of the branches before he was already off, heading towards the next one. To keep himself entertained, Kakashi began to contemplate ideas on how he was going to eliminate the medic without drawing too much attention.

An assasination attempt? Too risky, considering Kakashi had no idea how skilled the girl was. And that was too high profile, the Uchihas would immediately suspect that it was an inside job; Kakashi had no clue if Minato still needed him to act as a double agent after this mission.

His best bet was to earn her trust. And then what? Slit her throat when she was unaware? Fake a suicide? Somehow convince her to be assigned to an outpost and claim she had been caught in the crossfire of war?

None of those ideas sounded appealing, but more plausible to execute than his previous plan. At least that way, Kakashi would get an opportunity to learn her habits, her schedule, and know how long before someone noticed her missing, among other things.

The real question was how he was going to earn her trust. Fake an injury and visit the hospital? Would she even be the one to tend him? Stalk her and magically interject himself into her life? He didn't even know what she looked like.

Kakashi mentally groaned. Why was this turning out a lot harder than it had to be? He regretted not asking for the identity of the other spy; at least, that person would be able to get him an in to Rin's side.

A particular conversation flickered to the forefront of his mind.

_As far as I know, she's needed at the hospital. She's a poison expert, so she needs to be on standby to crack Tsunade's poisons._

Obito's friend. Poison expert. Rin Nohara?

If that was the case, then that made his mission infinitely easier. Except that meant using some underhanded tactics.

_Sorry Obito._

He had been so engrossed in his own thoughts that he hadn't realized a shinobi had snuck up to him until he saw a glint reflecting off metal until it was a foot in front of his face. Eyes widening, his instincts took over, forcing himself to twist his body. The blade dug into his side, slicing through the flesh just below his ribcage. Blood soaked through his shirt.

The shinobi yanked back his sword, raising it once more, but Kakashi was ready for him this time. Kunai in hand, his arm swung in an upward arc, metal clashing against metal. The other shinobi put a tremendous amount of force on his sword and Kakashi's arm strained under the pressure, but he held strong.

Kakashi found himself staring into a pair of Sharingans.

"Uchiha," Kakashi whispered. "Whoa, whoa I'm not your enemy."

"That's what they all say," the Uchiha hissed. "You do not belong to the Uchiha clan nor to any of our ally clans."

Kakashi had never run into this problem before, simply because he had always come back to the village with a group.

"Look at my arm," Kakashi commanded. The Uchiha did, his eyes flickering to the black armband on Kakashi's upper arm, denoting the Uchiha clan symbol. The black color symbolized his status as a commander. The Uchiha blinked in surprise, relenting his hold on the sword.

"Sorry taichou," the Uchiha said sheepishly, taking a few steps backwards. "Are you okay?"

Kakashi grunted in response, tucking the kuani back into the holster. There was a stinging pain in his abdomen and he was acutely aware that he was still losing more blood, but Kakashi waved off the Uchiha's concerns. Before the Uchiha could offer to escort him to the hospital, Kakashi darted off, encountering no trouble as he slipped through the village gates.

He made it to his apartment in a record time, darting at top speed across the rooftops to do so. Slipping in through the slightly opened window, Kakashi grimaced as the maneuver irritated his wound even further. Stumbling to the bathroom, Kakashi flickered on the lights and kicked the door shut behind him. Squatting down, Kakashi retrieved the medical kit from the bottom shelf and popped open the kit.

Kakashi was careful to slowly peel off his shirt, which had already begun sticking to the wound, to not reopen the wound any further. Rolling his shirt to below his armpits, Kakashi surveyed the damage in the mirror.

It was worse than he had originally thought. Deep enough to require stitches.

Blood continued to drip down from the wound, leaving a trail on his pale complexion before the droplet was soaked by the waistband of his pants. Grabbing a handful of gauzes, Kakashi mentally braced himself as he pressed the gauzes tightly against his wound.

The bleeding wouldn't stop. As much as Kakashi hated going to the hospital, he knew that there was no way to circumvent this visit. If the beginning signs of lightheadedness wasn't enough for him to realize the severity, he needed to go anyways, to restock on medical supplies. Between him and his accident prone roommate, the supplies ran dry quickly.

Hastily wrapping a bandage around his torso to keep the gauzes in place, Kakashi let the shirt fall, covering his torso once more. Running his hands under the sink, he scrubbed off the blood caked on his hands before yanking the bathroom door open, stumbling towards the front door.

On his way out, Kakashi was vaguely aware that his roommate had just come back. He didn't bother to acknowledge his presence nor answer any of his questions as he slipped through the open door.

Never did he think he would be willingly going to the hospital at that moment. Usually, he was too heavily injured to protest or he would be treated by a field medic or he would pretend his wound wasn't as serious as it seemed.

Yet his sensei's words echoed in his head. _You're getting reckless._

Kakashi supposed he was.

Too bad he didn't have anyone to ground him in place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> Me trying to include Sukea into this story and this was what came up lol. Kakashi didn't lose his eye in this story; instead, he has a scar running through his eyebrow but his eye is not damage. And since he doesn't have the Sharingan, he won't be using Chidori in battle, which was really weird to write lol. Had to catch myself every time. Same way I have to stop myself from referring Minato as Hokage and the village as Konoha haha.
> 
> I vaguely mentioned Kakashi left the village 14 years ago. Any guesses? :)
> 
> Thank you for reading! See you next time.  
> -MM


	7. Encounter

**Present**

Emi was at the front desk, grabbing a couple of files requested by Rin from the receptionist, when she heard a loud gasp. Her head whirled around sharply to see a silver haired man stumble through the lobby, slightly bent over, arm hovering around his left abdomen. He left behind a trail of blood with each step he took.

Most of the people in the vicinity were shocked still. It had taken Emi twenty seconds before she snapped out of her own stupor. Leaving the documents on the counter of the receptionist's desk, Emi ran over to the shinobi.

Her hand wrapped around his wrist, tugging him along to the medical room. She didn't know any medical ninjutsu herself, but she knew that Rin would be able to help him.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Emi questioned, eyes frantically roving over the man's stature. The man grunted, shaking his head.

"Hold on, I'm going to get help soon…"

Out of the corner of her eye, a flash of brown caught her attention. "Rin san!"

Rin turned her head in the direction of the voice, eyes honing in on the injured man next to Emi. She hurried over to the man, ushering him into the nearest empty medical ward. Lightly pushing him to sit on the bed, Rin bent down in front of him, lifting his shirt upward to examine the wound.

He leaned backwards, giving her a better view of the hastily bandaged job. Blood had completely soaked through all of the layers. Grabbing a pair of nearby scissors, Rin cut away the bandage, letting it fall off to the side. The man winced as Rin attempted to gently lift the pile of gauzes that had already begun to stick to the wound.

"Sorry," Rin murmured apologetically. Setting the wad of gauzes to the side, Rin's hands hovered over his wound, palms already growing green to stitch back the damaged muscles and blood vessels.

"You did a good job wrapping up your wound."

"Learned from the best," was the man's only reply. Rin couldn't tell if his response was legitimate or if he was just being sarcastic.

"Are you injured anywhere else?"

The man shook his head.

"Were you attacked?"

The man attempted to shrug, but regretted it the moment he felt pain shooting up his side. He gave a tight lipped smile. "Yes. A comrade had mistaken me to be the enemy…"

For the first time, Rin had a chance to properly glance at his features. Unruly white hair, definitely not a coloring belonging to the Uchiha clan. Black eyes, not the pale pupils of the Hyuga trademark. He didn't seem to belong to the Aburame or Inuzuka clan either.

Clanless like her?

The man cleared his throat, rather loudly. Heat flooded her cheeks as Rin averted her eyes, focusing back on stitching up the wound.

Awkward silence spanned between them as Rin attempted to keep her eyes riveted to the gash on his stomach, but found her eyes itching to wander elsewhere. It was such a strange feeling to not be able to multitask while she healed, even if it was something as simple as talking with the patient.

The man in front of her didn't seem a bit interested in chatting.

The healing itself took a lot longer than Rin had initially anticipated; the wound was deeper than it seemed, cutting through a lot of muscle tissue and even nicking a major artery, which had probably been why he had deemed it serious enough to even step foot into the hospital in the first place. Any deeper, the man would have bled to death while he attempted to fix his own wound.

Shinobis...they were all the same: too stubborn to admit themselves into the hospital.

The shinobi cleared his throat, leading Rin to jerk her head upwards. His dark eyes made contact with her brown ones. She shot him a questioning look.

The man tilted his head slightly to the side. "Ah, I was wondering if it was that bad since you seemed to be staring at it so intently."

"Could be worse," Rin told him. "It's nothing that I can't fix, so don't worry. Are you in any pain?"

The man half shrugged. "I've dealt with worse."

Rin was pressed to believe him, since he didn't seem that much older than her. However when her eyes slid down from his face and to his shoulder before finally landing on the black band on his upper arm, understanding dawned on her.

Commander status. Probably another war hardened shinobi plagued by the skirmishes throughout the years, perhaps even from the previous war.

Then something else dawned on her. "If you're a commander, how did you get ambushed? By a comrade nonetheless."

The edges of his eyes crinkled in amusement. "I suppose I was a little distracted."

Distracted? Rin wasn't sure she wanted to know the details.

Rin stepped away from the man, the chakra surrounding her palms flickering out of existence.

"I fixed most of the damage," Rin informed him, while she turned around, rummaging in one of the drawers from the supplies she was looking for. While her back was still turned, she continued to inform the shinobi of instructions that she was sure that he had already heard ad nauseam.

"Change the bandages twice a day; once when you first wake up and again after you shower. Apply the ointment after you shower; it'll help prevent scarring and provide a bit of pain relief."

The shinobi wordlessly nodded as Rin pressed the ointment into the palm of his hands. Without being asked, he cooperated by lifting his arms upwards, allowing her to have better access to his torso and an easier time to have his wound wrapped.

An injury prone shinobi for sure.

"And you know the protocol, no strenuous activity for at least three days."

It had been such a faint and quick expression change that Rin would have missed it if she hadn't been staring at his face at that moment. Displeasure. Rin had a feeling that he wasn't planning on following her instructions. At all.

"Don't land yourself in the hospital again," she warned.

The shinobi hummed in agreement. "What's your name?"

"Rin Nohara. You can call me Rin."

An unreadable expression flickered across the man's face before he schooled it back into its former, impassive self. A faint, but forced smile stretched itself across his face, only noticeable by the shift in the fabric of his mask.

"I'll try not to, but in case I do, I'll make sure to ask for someone other than you." With that, the man got to his feet. Nodding his thanks, his shoulders brushed against hers as he headed straight for the door. It had only been when Rin heard the sound of the door opening did she finally snap out of her stupor.

"Shinobi san, make sure you fill out the forms at the front desk!" she hollered after him, but by that point, he was no longer in her line of sight. Scrambling out of the room, she glanced both ways down the hall.

Nowhere in sight. He was quick to leave.

Shaking her head, Rin motioned for one of the nurses to prep the room for the next patient while she made the trip down to the front desk. The receptionist stood up to greet her, but Rin waved her off, motioning for her to get back to work. The receptionist looked like she wanted to say something, perhaps offer her assistance, but she kept her mouth shut and sat back down.

Rin's fingers trailed over the smooth granite countertop while she tried to find the thing she was looking for. There, the clipboard at the very end of the counter. Reaching to pull the clipboard closer to her, her eyes scanned the list of names of people who had checked out of the hospital.

Her eyes landed on the last name on the sheet.

_Kakashi Hatake._

* * *

For once, Kakashi did listen to the medic's order and went straight home after his departure from the hospital. Normally, he would have taken to the training grounds to brush up on his taijutsu or requested a spar if anyone he knew was available. Neither of those options appealed to him when a more pressing matter was on the forefront of his mind.

Rin Nohara. The medic who had healed him had been Rin, the girl he was supposed to take care of. And now that he had met the girl in person, Kakashi could understand Minato's reservations towards ordering an assasination on her.

Kakashi was no stranger to killing; he made so many kills that he had already lost count. Probably somewhere in the triple digits if Kakashi had to guess. Yet all of those had been out of self defense; it was either them or him. How was he supposed to kill a girl who wasn't trying to harm him, but helping him instead?

Hence Kakashi rushed home after leaving the hospital in an attempt to clear his mind. He had pictured being able to lay on his bed and stare up at the ceiling as he contemplated his next move. And redid all of his former plans now that he had actually met the girl in person.

And perhaps send a message to ask his sensei for advice…

All his plans were trashed the moment that Kakashi's nose picked up a trail of perfume, a floral scent, lingering at the front door of his apartment. His hand hovered on the doorknob, wondering if he should proceed to twist it open.

He angled his body so that he could press his ear against the wooden door. Hushed voices, so low that Kakashi couldn't make out anything but a guy and a female speaking.

Perhaps, Kakashi should enter through the window. Except, the voices were so low that it sounded like the pair was in his roommate's bedroom, so if he went through the front door, he wouldn't be intruding on their conversation.

Plus, with his injury, it was better to not maneuver himself through a window, lest he irritated the wound once more. With that resolve in mind, Kakashi twisted the doorknob open, pulled out the key and pocketed it. Absently, he flicked on the lightswitch by the door, while he bent down to pull off his sandals.

Only to hear Kenzou hissing his name. "Oi, Kakashi. Get the hell out."

"What-" The "why" part of his response had been on the tip of his tongue, but Kakashi found that he didn't need an explanation when his eyes landed on Kenzou Inuzuka, his roommate, lying stomach first on the couch, presumably on top of a girl. Kakashi couldn't see the woman other than her mop of dark hair that dangled off the armrest of the couch. He was especially grateful that Kenzou had the foresight to pull a blanket over his body as Kakashi was in no mood to see his roommate stark naked, if the clothes strewn all over the living room floor was any indication.

Kakashi averted his eyes, fixating it on the dried blood stain on the wall from the time Kenzou had stumbled back into the apartment, completely drunk, and accidentally banged his head on the wall.

"I'm injured and you decide that it's the perfect time to shack it up with a girl?" Kakashi questioned incredulously. "Where the hell do you expect me to go?"

Kenzou let out a frustrated growl. "I don't care. Go to Obito's. Or the training ground. Or wherever you usually go. Just leave! You're totally killing the mood here."

Kakashi could hardly care less if he was ruining the mood or not. He shot Kenzou a glare. "You owe me one."

Kenzou nodded, hastily gesturing for him to leave. Sighing with exasperation, Kakashi left his own apartment, pulling the apartment door shut with more force than was necessarily. Then he leaned against the railings connected to the staircase, staring absently down at the dirt road.

A brief notion of sneaking in through the window came to mind, but Kakashi wasn't in the mood to third wheel the duo.

Obito's? In the event that Kakashi did track down Obito, he would pester him with so many questions that Kakashi wouldn't be able to get the peace and quiet that he yearned for.

His eyes flickered to the direction of the sun. At this time of the day, his favorite training grounds would most likely be occupied, so that wasn't an option either.

His favorite getaway spot then. It was a tree located far enough away from the center of town to avoid the bustling noises of everyday life, but close enough that he wasn't too far away from civilization. From his vantage point in the trees, Kakashi could spot the worn bench below him - don't ask him how many awkward confessions he had witnessed there - and the hospital slightly off in the distance. His favorite part about this particular tree was the leaves were dense enough to obscure him to the point that very few would spot him in passing, yet not thick enough to block his view or the stream of sunlight.

As he settled himself into his favorite spot, on that particular branch which was angled to where his back could rest comfortably against the trunk of the tree, Kakashi retrieved a small notebook from his back pocket and a pen. Stretching his feet out in front of him, Kakashi pried the book open, flipping to the next blank page and began to write.

The first consisted of points that Kakashi wanted to include in his report of the outpost. The report that he had been putting off simply not because he didn't know what to write, but simply because he was too lazy to write it. He still had until tomorrow afternoon anyways.

When he was done with that, Kakashi flipped back two pages and stared at his lazy scrawl of a potentially new jutsu. He hadn't worked out all of the kinks to it, but the premise had been promising...he was supposed to ask Sensei for his opinion on that trip, but had forgotten in the midst of all the war talk.

Kakashi was avoiding it, he knew. The planning of how to assassinate the girl. Even as Kakashi sat there for the next two hours contemplating, the page remained blank.

_The Senjus would gain the upperhand if she's out of the way. No one else will be able to counter Tsunade sama's poisons as quickly and as effectively. Even the strongest men wouldn't be able to withstand the effects._

_Isn't my life goal to strive for peace? To end the war? Perhaps I had been too late to make a difference in my own childhood, but at least I can make a difference for someone else._

_Think of Naruto. Your dad wasn't around when you wanted him to be, but at least you can help him. Minato sensei could be home more permanently if the war ended._

_And you don't want him to grow up in wartime, do you?_

The answer was a resounding no, restoring some clarity in Kakashi's mind. A simple lapse of judgment on his part...his precious people were more important to him.

He wouldn't become his father. Kakashi didn't believe in making the same mistake twice.

His hand began to scribble on the page.

* * *

The soft patter of rain hitting the window pane faded into background noise as Rin became engrossed in trying to prolong one of her patient's life, while he waited for a transplant match. It wasn't to say that they had a shortage of organs, not when numerous shinobis died everyday, filling up the morgue room quicker than they could be buried.

Rin dragged a heavy hand over her face, letting out a drawn out sigh of frustration.

She hated the war.

But all of her worries and frustrations were quickly forgotten when Obito Uchiha showed up at her office at the hospital, with two bentos in his hands. It seemed he had an uncanny knack for knowing when she was in a bad mood.

Obito plopped down in the seat directly across from her desk. While he pulled out the bento boxes from the plastic bag, Rin cleared her desk, neatly stacking the once scattered papers in her hands before pulling out one of the drawers and stashing it away. He set a bento box down in front of her, chopsticks laid on diagonally on top of the box.

Thanking Obito for the food, Rin broke the chopsticks in half, lifted the lid and began to eat. Obito followed suit.

They caught up in between mouthfuls of food; at one point, Rin had to scold Obito to not speak while he was chewing when bits of food fell out of his mouth. Sheepishly, Obito grabbed a few tissues and cleaned up the mess on her desk.

Six months. That was how long since they had seen each other. They exchanged letters throughout the course of the six months, but Obito was always too busy at the outposts, resulting in fragmented communication over the course of the six months. Albeit it was lonely at times, Rin understood that they both had their own obligations to execute. Her, at the hospital and him, on the battlefield.

"Why were you there for six months? Isn't rotation every three months?" It was something that Rin had always wanted to ask, but had never gotten the chance to in her letters. Perhaps, she didn't feel like it had been appropriate to pry when Obito didn't offer an explanation tacked along with informing her that he wouldn't be able to come home.

"Ah well," Obito began, his eyes downcasted to stare absently at his food. "A couple months back, there was a Senju attack and we took a heavy loss. It's not well known, but our forces have been stretched thin lately. I know Itachi wanted the three month rotation so we don't go stir crazy out there, but we won't be able to keep it up any longer."

Rin knew. The amount of bodies that passed through the morgue room far exceeded the number of shinobis that graduated from the Academy. And there were still many more bodies unaccounted for on the battlefield.

"Six months?"

"Perhaps," Obito answered. "Either way, it won't be long until I get sent out again."

"How long do you have?"

Obito shrugged. "At the very least, two weeks, but I'm betting I'll be sent out before the month is over. The Senju have been getting more aggressive lately; did you hear that they even sent the Yellow Flash to attack our outpost?"

Rin frowned. "Isn't he their current leader? Why is he out on the battlefield?"

"Who knows," Obito admitted. "Perhaps he feels that his talents are more useful on the field. If that's the case, then we'll have to send Shisui out on the battlefield too."

Shisui Uchiha...Rin had met the man once or twice in passing. If the gossip at the hospital was to be believed, then he had as much of a legendary reputation as Itachi.

"Hey…"

The next hour was spent with Obito telling her all sorts of stories of incidents that happened at the outposts. In particular, Obito always rant about his second in command, and how he never failed to irritate Obito. In return, Rin told him of the happenings at the hospital. Nothing new.

"I've been avoiding him actually," Obito admitted. "I know he's pissed that I left him with Sora, but I didn't want to be there either."

Rin laughed. "Didn't you tell me that you would never leave a comrade behind? What happened to your resolve?"

"Hey, hey, this is completely different. Kakashi wasn't in any danger - well maybe - but even if he was, I believe he can totally kick Sora's ass. He did it once before, too bad I missed it."

"Kakashi?" Rin echoed.

Obito glanced at her inquisitively. "You know him? Gravity defying silver hair, that stupid mask on his face all the time, the scar above his left eye?"

Rin nodded. "He came by to the hospital earlier."

Obito's mouth fell open, forming a 'o' shape. "What was wrong with him? Kakashi never voluntarily comes to the hospital ever, so it must have been pretty bad."

"You know I can't tell you that. It's a violation of a patient's privacy."

Obito snorted, leaning across the desk so that he was directly in her face. "It's Kakashi. He will never tell me of his own accord. Besides, we're best friends so I don't think he will mind."

Rin rolled her eyes, flicking Obito's nose. Obito backed away, rubbing his nose while a pout formed on his face. "If he won't voluntarily tell you, that means he minds. So no, best friends or not, I can't and won't tell you."

"Fine, fine." Obito glanced at the clock on the wall. "I gotta meet with Itachi soon. Are you leaving too? I can walk you home."

Rin stood up, gathering the trash from their dinner and tossing it into the bin. "I am, but we live on opposite sides of the village. You'll be late."

Obito rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey, at least I'll have a legitimate excuse this time."

Rin shot him an unimpressed look as she tossed her medical coat on the back of her chair. Grabbing the umbrella leaning by the door, she ushered Obito out of her office, shutting off the lights before closing and locking the door.

She nudged him towards the front entrance. "Nope, I'm not giving you an excuse to be late."

"Are you sure?" Obito asked once more when they had reached the front entrance of the hospital. "It's pretty late."

Rin nodded. "I'll be fine. Besides, I'm not completely defenseless. Now go and meet your cousin; I'm sure he doesn't appreciate your tardiness."

With a defeated sigh, Obito nodded, waving her goodbye before pulling the hood of his raincoat over his head. Scaling the wall of the hospital, Obito took towards darting across the rooftops in the direction of the Uchiha compound.

Opening her umbrella, she swung it over her head before she stepped out into the pouring rain.

The streets were empty, but that was to be expected. The lamppost at the corner of the street flickered on and off and by the time she reached the end of the street, it sputtered out for good, basking her in darkness. Her eyes latched on to the next source of light and used it to guide her down the street.

Two blocks away from the hospital, Rin trudged through a particular street, a back road of sorts. Darkness surrounded her from all sides; the lone source of light coming from the lamppost next to the worn bench was dim.

A flash of lightning streaked across the sky, revealing a streak of silver. Rin blinked twice, making sure that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. Crossing the distance in a couple of steps, her wet sandals making a squelching noise, Rin stopped right by the bench, angling her head upward to look at the tree.

The man from earlier, Kakashi, leaning against the tree with his head cocked to the side. He held a small notebook in his hand, closed with his pen jammed in the middle of it. The leaves shielded him from the brunt of the rain, but his clothes were still completely soaked through. His hair was matted, sticking to his forehead and the side of his face.

He had fallen asleep.

"Kakashi?" She hadn't been particularly loud; she didn't want to alarm the man, but did so anyways as he jerked away, eyes searching frantically for the source of the sound while his hands pulled out a kunai.

His eyes landed on her two seconds later. He tucked the kunai back in its holster and picked up his soggy notebook and frowned. A hand moved to brush his hair back.

"You shouldn't be out in the rain, especially not with your wound," Rin said, when it became clear that he wasn't going to say anything first. His dark eyes slid to hers, but he still didn't say anything.

He tucked the notebook in his weapons pouch and began to wring out his clothes wherever he could.

"You're still going to get rained on if you stay out here," Rin continued, growing frustrated by his lack of response. "You should go home."

"I don't have a home to go to," Kakashi drawled, not bothering to make eye contact as he squeezed the water out of his hair. He shook his head, mussing up his locks to its unkemped self. "Roommate kicked me out so he could have his privacy, so here I am."

"Come stay with me then." The offer came out of her mouth before Rin had the chance to even properly think over exactly what she was offering. Kakashi simply stared at her, an unreadable expression in his eyes.

Well it was too late for her to backtrack now. "At least until the rain stops. And you can take a warm shower so you don't get sick. Besides, you need to change your bandages; it'll get infected if you don't."

Kakashi still didn't say anything, but could tell he was contemplating her offer.

"My roommate left for the outposts, so she won't be around. You can stay the night if you need to." When those words left her mouth, Rin really wanted to put her foot in her mouth. Why did it come out sounding so wrong? Why did she have to mention that Akiara wasn't going to be there?

Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"No, no that's not what I meant," Rin began to backtrack. "I just meant that I have an extra bed if you really need to stay. If you don't want to, that's okay too, I mean-"

Rin cut herself off. She was rambling. She needed to stop before she said something else that she regretted.

"Thank you." He had said it so softly that Rin had almost missed it amongst the sound of raindrops pattering incessantly against her umbrella. Kakashi swung his feet off of the branch, hopping down. Rin instinctively reached out, wanting to scold him for irritating his wound, but she didn't want to scare him away.

He reached her side and she lifted her arm upwards, trying to cover him with the umbrella too. Kakashi saw her struggling and moved to take the umbrella from her, fingers brushing against her hand. She quickly removed her hand, letting him hold the umbrella over both of them, curling her hand into a fist and rigidly placing it by her side.

"Lead the way," Kakashi murmured.

She did, with him trailing slightly behind her, but close enough that she could feel his body heat radiating off of him. Though she tried to keep her eyes ahead and focused on the road, her eyes couldn't help but dart over to look at Kakashi every so often.

Mostly out of concern for his wound, she told herself.

But in the process, Rin learned of things she didn't know what to quite make of. Like how he held the umbrella so it covered her completely while his backside was completely subjected to the rain. Like how he tipped the umbrella backwards so the droplets slid and landed on his head rather than her. Like how he walked with a nonchalant attitude, slightly hunched over, free hand tucked in pocket, but immediately tensed when they had passed by another guy on the street who had been eyeing them...or rather her.

Rin almost wanted to let out a sigh of relief when she reached the front of her apartment. While she fumbled with the lock, Kakashi shook out the droplets that clung to the umbrella before retracting it. She swung the door open, flicking on the light and began to peel off her soaked sandals. Besides her, Kakashi did the same.

"You should go take a shower. The bathroom is that way, the first door on the left. I don't have any clothes that will fit you, but-"

"That's fine," Kakashi interjected, cutting her off. "Thank you."

He disappeared to the bathroom while Rin went to the kitchen, setting the kettle to boil. After going to her room to rummage in her closet - maybe Obito had left his clothes at some point - she confirmed she didn't have anything that would fit Kakashi.

Twenty minutes later, Rin left the tea to simmer in the living room while she went to the bathroom, knocking on the door lightly. Not even three seconds had passed when the door opened a crack, the steam filtering out. The mirror was foggy, but Rin was able to make out his silhouette.

She peered into the bathroom only to quickly avert her eyes when her brain registered that he only had a towel wrapped around his hips.

"I'm applying the ointment, don't worry," Kakashi drawled from inside the bathroom.

"Do you need help with bandaging?" Rin almost wanted to slap herself when that offer left her mouth.

"No, I got it," came Kakashi's reply. Thankfully because there was no way that she would be able to focus when he was practically naked.

"Uh, there's tea on the table in the living room. I'll be in my room so don't worry about walking out indecently." With that, Rin pulled the door shut once more and darted back to her own room. Flopping onto her bed, Rin smothered her face with her pillow as she rolled around in her bed while her mind recalled the entire encounter from beginning to end.

Why did she have to be so awkward?

_He's just Obito's friend,_ Rin thought. _He's the same guy that Obito arm wrestled with to get out doing chores. He's the same guy that always finds ways to get Obito back whenever Obito dumps all the responsibility onto him._

_I mean, if he and Obito can get along, he can't be all that bad, right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> This is my first time writing a non evil adult Obito, and surprisingly, he's pretty fun to write. I always imagined that he would be a more mature version of his younger self, but still with all of his quirks (like being late) so that's what I made him to be. I was originally going to make them meet through Obito, but then completely scrapped that idea. Still, I quite like developing their friendships separately: Obito and Kakashi, Obito and Rin. Any guesses on how they met/how they became friends? :)
> 
> The next 3 chapters will go back into the past and explore Rin's background. Personally, hers was the most interesting to write since it's completely non canon. While Kakashi and Itachi's were cool to write too, theirs erred more on the canon side so it's a bit less special. Plus, I think when you read her story, it's raise a lot of questions. :)
> 
> Thank you for reading!  
> -MM


	8. Red and White

When Rin heard shouting coming from the direction of the grand window in the library that she knew faced the entrance of Daisuke Uchiha's manor, she knew that he had come home from his two week long vacation. Lightly creasing the corner of the page, she snapped the book shut. Clambering to her feet and lifting the heavy textbook to rise with her, Rin stood on her tippy toes, stretching her short arms to place the book back in its rightful position.

The book weighed down on her weak arms as she had unsuccessfully pushed the book back in its rightful place. The shouts, that were rapidly getting louder by each moment, had only served to fuel her anxiety.

Despite her aching arms yearning for relief, Rin attempted to shove the textbook back in its place once more, by jumping up and pushing the book onto the shelf. Relief coursed through her, both in her arms from being free of the weight of the textbook and in her being, as she heard the telltale sound of the book scraping against the wooden shelf.

It stayed in its place.

Wiping the sweat off of her palms by gripping the bottom of her shirt, Rin hurriedly made her way out of the library. At the exit, she ducked her tiny head out into the hallway, peering back and forth before deeming that there was no one in sight before slipping out of the library. Once in the hallway, Rin smoothed down her hair, tucking stray pieces of her hair that had fallen out of her braid behind her ear.

Once she deemed herself to be presentable, she joined the crowd moving towards the entrance to welcome the owner of the manor home. She did what she did best: blending in. Her features helped, her mousy brown hair and muddy brown eyes didn't serve to warrant any attention nor did her average height or tatty clothes.

Shuffling behind a boy that was a head taller than her, she ducked her head and obediently followed him down the stairs and into the foyer. Lines of people had already begun to form, all with their hands clasped together in the front with their heads ducked low. Everyone, ranging from the guards, to the servants, to the cooks, to the stable boys, were present, taking their appropriate places based on their seniority.

Rin had taken her rightful place in the third line on the left, wedged between a stable boy whose complexion had tints of redness to it, a sign of sunburn if she could recall correctly, and a girl that looked to be slightly younger than her. Her fiery red hair fell, shielding her face from view, but Rin knew exactly who she was. She had seen the girl around on a couple of occasions and knew that she was a favorite target for the guards to tease when they were bored. The memories of her witnessing the guards pulling on her hair, pushing her back and forth like she was a ragdoll, Rin couldn't get that image out of her mind.

Her heart longed to reach out to the girl, to extend a helping hand or at the very least, offer emotional support, but her mind had learned long ago that it was better to keep to herself. It was either her or them and Rin learned that to protect herself from becoming the weakest, she had to prevail above others. And if that meant pushing others below her, then so be it.

From the third row, Rin couldn't see anything. Her height didn't help matters either, but she imagined that Daisuke Uchiha had entered the manor, still exhibiting the same amount of arrogance and authority as he did when he left. His entourage would scramble to follow after him, hauling his belongings. The guards would bow their heads out of respect while everyone else would hold their breath, lest they did anything to irritate him.

Rin was bold enough to sneak a peek at Daisuke as he began to make his way up the steps. He was exactly as she remembered, donning an exquisite silk robe to accentuate his status, while proudly displaying the red and white Uchiwa fan on his backside. That wasn't what caught her attention though, but rather it was a timid looking, raven haired girl that followed after the man.

On the fifth step, Daisuke halted, lazily turning around. His black eyes bore down at the girl. His hand shot out, gripping on the back of the girl's shirt. Lifting her into the air, turning her around so that Rin could now clearly see the girl's face, Daisuke gradually set the girl back down onto the step. Daisuke promptly shoved the girl by the shoulder, sending the girl toppling down the stairs.

Rin inwardly winced at the display, but didn't dare to utter a sound.

"See to it that she gets acquainted," Daisuke ordered. The bottom of the robe swirled around him as Daisuke turned back around, continuing his ascent.

The moment Daisuke was out of sight, all of them scrambled back to their appropriate positions. The guards, off to the various places that they were stationed in and out of the manor. The cooks, off to the kitchen to prepare a welcome home feast for dinner. The stable boys and gardeners, back outside to tend to the horses and greenery, respectively. The servants, off to make the entire manor spotless.

All of them except for the raven haired girl who was still on her knees, head bowed low as the commotion swirled around her. Rin followed the red haired girl towards the stairs, the girl hardly sparing the newcomer a single glance, but Rin couldn't help but toss a sympathetic glance in the newcomer's direction.

No one would help her, Rin knew, just like no one helped her when she had been in the same position two years ago. Turning her head back to face the front, Rin climbed the stairs and all but practically bolted to the cleaning closet, pushing past other servants to get to the supplies.

The library was her section; it better have been spotless by dinner time lest she faced punishment.

With a duster, a couple of rags, an empty bucket, sponge, and soap in tow, Rin managed to make it through the chaos in the hallways and slip inside the library. The library, granting her her solitude and a chance to catch her breath. She sank down onto the floor, her back pressed against the wall as her eyes listlessly roved through the interior of the library, her mind churning to formulate the most efficient plan to get this place cleaned.

When her eyes flickered to the open window, a brief thought of escape crossed her mind, but was quickly banished. Months of observation told her that the window was in the line of sight of three of the guards and rotations for all three guards happened at different times. So even if one was distracted, there were always two more pairs of eyes on it at all times.

Sighing, Rin pushed herself back onto her feet, grabbing the metal handle of the bucket. Exiting the library, Rin headed straight for the nearest bathroom, down the corridor, the first left turn, and the second door on the right. As she rounded the corner, Rin heard voices and immediately ducked her head. As much as her curiosity was getting the better of her, the consequences were more dire if she decided to interject.

Slipping inside the bathroom, Rin purposely left open the door a tiny crack while she ran the bucket under the faucet.

"Just because you are new doesn't mean you can stand around and do nothing." A male's voice, possibly one of the guards.

"Ano, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing," came a soft spoken voice. Was it the new girl from earlier? Rin resisted the urge to stick her head out and sneak a peek.

Whack. The sound of skin meeting skin echoed through the empty hallway. Rin flinched at the noise, hand unconsciously cradling the side of her own face.

"Did I give you the right to talk back to me? Since you are new, I'll let it slide this time, but you better learn quickly," came the man's stern voice. His statement was followed by a soft cry and the sound of a body hitting the floor.

Rin held her breath as she heard footsteps, moving closer to her. Her hand reached out, shutting off the faucet and watched the straggling droplets of water drip down into the bucket as her ears were hyper aware of how close the man was to her.

Step. Right outside of the door.

She let out a sigh of relief when she heard the footsteps moving away from her, turning the corner. Hauling the bucket out of the sink and sloshing some of the water in the process, Rin flicked off the light before exiting the bathroom.

Rin made the mistake of looking to see who the unfortunate victim had been. Her brown eyes locked on with her vibrant red ones, so red that Rin might have mistaken it to be the Sharingan if not for the lack of tomoes in her eyes. The right side of her cheek was flushed red, dried blood caked the left side of her forehead and bits of her hair. Multiple bruises were prominent against her pale complexion, running up her arms and legs. Her clothes were torn in multiple places; cuts and scrapes littered her torso.

She felt sorry for the young girl, but there wasn't much that she could do to help her. Shaking her head sadly, Rin made a move to turn away from her.

But her broken plea stopped her. "Please." With one word, Rin heard the sorrow in her voice. It spoke magnitudes of what the young girl had been through and Rin even suspected that they had the same story.

Her grip tightened around the handle of the bucket, squeezing it so hard that the metal dug into the skin of her palm uncomfortably. Her eyes tried to look everywhere but at her, but her gaze kept gravitating back to the girl. To see a girl who needed her help. To see a girl who reminded so much of herself two years ago. Except no one helped her and Rin had been left to fend for herself.

_If it's someone else, then it wasn't her._

_If there's someone weaker than her, she was safe._

But could she be so cruel? Weren't two always stronger than one? Did she want that on her conscience, knowing that she could have done something about it?

Her defenses crumbled. "Come on."

Those two words alone had been more than enough to ignite the hope in the girl's eyes once more. Despite all of her injuries, the girl was on her feet in less than a second and quickly made her way to Rin's side. A slight limp in her left leg, a small wince when the girl accidentally touched the underside of her ribcage, and possibly more injuries that Rin wasn't aware of.

First things first, the two of them needed to get out of sight. There was no telling when another guard would round the corner and happen to be in the mood to torment them. Gesturing for the girl to follow her, Rin navigated her way back to the library, relieved that there had been no one in sight. Rin twisted the door open, ushering the girl to go in before she followed, shutting the door behind them.

She placed the bucket onto the floor, already forgotten as Rin placed all of her attention on the injured girl.

"Where are you injured?" The girl couldn't muster enough energy to form words, instead she pointed at her left ankle, gestured vaguely to her left side as well as her backside and pointed to the various injuries on her arm. Grabbing a nearby chair, Rin instructed the girl to take a seat while she bent down, rolling up the leg of her tattered pants to reveal an already swollen ankle.

Light green chakra formed around her hands as she hovered them around the ankle. Sprained, but nothing broken. At least it hadn't been the worst.

"You're a medic?" the girl questioned, her voice hoarse.

Rin nodded. "You can't tell anyone." This was her secret, one that she would take to the grave if she could. If not for her bleeding heart, then there wouldn't have been a second person who knew about it.

The girl nodded in agreement. "Don't worry. I won't tell."

That better be the case. There was no telling what Daisuke would do to her if he found that there was a medic under his roof. Punish her for secretly learning the art while she was supposed to be working? Send her off to the battlefield? Execute her? It was better if Rin never had to find out.

Rin worked her way through all of the girl's injuries. Once her foot was partially healed, it would take time for the swelling to go down on its own, Rin rolled up the bottom of her tunic, revealing splotches of brown, yellow, and purple bruises littering parts of her torso and the majority of her backside. The girl winced as Rin moved to heal it, but she shot her a reassuring smile.

The girl soldiered through all of the pain.

Rin didn't know how long it took for her to heal all of the girl's various injuries, but she certainly felt like her energy had been sucked out of her. It might have something to do with the amount of chakra that Rin utilized during the healing process, but she wasn't too certain. She hadn't had the chance to read up on the chakra network in the body; that was the next book on her list.

For now, she had a lot of cleaning to do. Tossing instructions to the girl to begin dusting off the bookshelves, Rin took to scrubbing the floors squeaky clean. The two of them worked in complete silence for the next couple of hours. They watched as the rays of sunlight filtered into the library diminished gradually until it vanished completely.

By the time the room was clean enough to pass Daisuke's inspection, it was almost dinner time. Rin hastily returned to the bathroom to dump out the contents of the dirty water down the drain, washed out the bucket and returned to see that the girl had everything else, ready to go. Rin led the way to the supply closet, returning all of the items to its rightful place before she headed down to the dining area.

To Rin, dinner always felt like a waste of time. Daisuke had enacted a rule that required all of the servants to be present in the dining room, to stand as still as a statue unless they were serving food. To have to watch Daisuke and his friends enjoy a hefty meal, while they discreetly tried to hide their rumbling stomachs. It was only when Daisuke finished his meal were they privy to his leftovers.

The girl was standing rigidly on Rin's left side, trying desperately to keep her eyes off of the food. Her stomach ached from the emptiness, her eyes shone with jealousy as she watched the Uchiha continue to shovel food down his throat without a care in the world.

In Rin's opinion, this was Daisuke's way of keeping a leash on them. To constantly remind them that they were under his mercy, that they were to be pitted against each other. The weakest ones never got to the food and would consequently starve. It was cruel but effective to keep them from forming alliances and causing a rebellion.

No, every person here fended for themselves.

From previous experience, Rin knew her average height didn't afford her any advantages when it came to outrunning the others, but she found that she was nimble and able to slip through bodies to swipe food off of the table. But today, she needed to get enough to feed two instead of one. Rin briefly glanced at the girl beside her; she couldn't rely on her to get any for herself.

So it was up to her.

All eyes were fixated on Daisuke like a hawk as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. It felt like he was moving in slow motion when he moved to slide his seat backwards. He stood up, tossing the napkin onto the table and turned, nodding to the two guards on his detail. As he left the dining room, the two guards followed.

It was so silent that a drop of a pin could be heard, yet the moment Daisuke was out of sight, it was chaos. All of the servants lurched forward, reaching to grab whatever was left on the table. Rin could vaguely register that the girl was confused by their actions, but Rin didn't have time to explain as she dove into the fray a fraction of a second later than everyone else. Ducking under the arms of two women, Rin grabbed a stray napkin and began to grab the bread from right under the women's noses. Her arm shot out to grab the edge of one of the plates, but was yanked away by someone else.

Rin tried again, grabbing onto a different plate, but that caught the notice of one of the women above her. The woman tried to fight her for the corn cobs, but Rin was quick to jam an elbow into her ribcage. The woman let out a gasp for air, backing up a step and allowing Rin to swoop in and steal the entire contents of the plate.

Rin wanted more, but she knew if she stayed any longer, someone was bound to fight her for the food that she already had in her hands and she wasn't certain if she would be able to win. So she strategically retreated, eyes roaming the area to see where the girl was.

When Rin finally locked eyes with the girl, she immediately left the crowd, bounding to Rin's side. Rin was pleasantly surprised to see that the girl had managed to swipe a cluster of grapes and two bananas. It wasn't much, but it had been more than Rin had been expecting.

Tossing one glance to make sure the girl was following, Rin took off towards the stairs, taking a right and heading to the very end of the hallway. She quickly ushered the girl inside what once was a storage room, turned into a servant's room, which Rin had to fight to attain. It was cramped, just long enough for her to lie down comfortably, but it was something.

Rin plopped down onto her makeshift mattress, consisting of old bed sheets she had pilfered through the years, sitting cross legged with the food in her lap. The girl followed her lead, sitting across from her, leaving a foot of distance between them.

"Does _that_ happen everyday?" the girl questioned as Rin handed two pieces of bread to her in exchange for a banana.

Rin nodded solemnly. "Better get used to it. The survival of the fittest, surely you understand?"

The girl let out an audible gulp, but she nodded as she tore off a piece of bread and stuffed it in her mouth, chewing slowly.

"Don't ever think about crossing me either," Rin warned, as a precaution. Just because she had decided to help out the poor girl didn't mean she completely trusted her. "Don't think I got here by playing nice."

"I wouldn't. By the way, my name is Kurenai." Finally, a name to put with a face.

"Rin," she responded curtly. "You should eat quickly, then we will go to sleep. We can get a chance to clean ourselves up at midnight."

Rin could tell that Kurenai had a dozen questions burning at the tip of her tongue, but she heeded to Rin's advice and ate.

Kurenai should consider herself lucky; she didn't have to suffer through the consequences of trial and error of finding the best routine to survive in this hellhole.

* * *

Since she had met Kurenai, Rin found that the girl was full of surprises. They were hiding in the library one day, under the guise that they were cleaning; the place was already spotless, always had been since no one but them had entered the room.

Predictably, Kurenai stared longingly at the open window, no doubt with the same thoughts running through her mind as Rin did when she first stumbled upon the open window. Rin had looked up and seen her staring, but merely turned her attention back onto the textbook on chakra networks.

"I wouldn't think about that if I were you," Rin murmured, flipping another page in the book. Kurenai jerked her head around to face her.

"Why? Don't you want to get out of here?"

"You'll be dead before you even make it down to the grass," Rin informed her. "He has eyes over every exit of this manor."

Kurenai flopped down to sit on the floor in front of her. "So you're saying we're doomed?"

Rin nodded. "From the moment we got caught, yes. The only escape is death."

Kurenai visibly shuddered at the thought. "You never heard of any successful escape attempts?"

"Nope. The ones who try are dragged to the dungeons and never seen again."

"How long have you been here?"

"Two years or so. I think I was ten when they found me…"

"I can't imagine being here for two years," Kurenai stated.

Rin shrugged. "You'll have to get used to it. It will only get worse for us when we get older."

"How so?"

Rin wished she could have had Kurenai's naivety and briefly wondered if she should be the one to taint her innocence. But Rin figured it was better for Kurenai to start mentally preparing herself. At twelve years old like herself, it would only be a few more years until it happened.

"The guards like to have a warm bed to sleep in," Rin said slowly. "Do you get what I mean?"

Understanding seemed to dawn on the dark haired girl judging from the way her mouth parted into a shape of an o.

"And you're just going to accept that?" Kurenai hissed. "I don't want to become someone's plaything!"

"What can you do about it?" Rin retorted. "What can we do about it? In case you don't remember, you were being half beaten to death when I found you, so I don't think there's a damned thing you can do to fight back against them. It's better if you accept your fate now than live in denial."

"What if I don't want to live like that? At least if I have hope, there's something to look forward to everyday!" Kurenai shot back.

Rin merely shook her head. "I used to think the same way that you did, but guess what? I lost hope. The faster you accept this reality, the better off you will be. I'm just trying to save you some grief."

"I just, just- can't really wrap my mind around all of this," Kurenai confessed. "One moment I was in my village and wandered off into the woods and the next thing I know, I'm living in this nightmare."

"I understand, but that is what we must live with now. Now, let me read my book in peace."

Of course, Kurenai being herself couldn't help but crawl over next to Rin and peer curiously over her shoulder to see what she was reading. On that page, Rin happened to be studying a diagram of the chakra network in a human's body.

"Chakra," Kurenai whispered.

Rin jerked her head upwards. "You know about chakra?"

"My father is a shinobi," Kurenai explained. "I've seen him training before. He told me chakra can be used for all sorts of things, like jutsus or detecting enemies."

"Detection?"

"I don't know, that's what he told me every time I tried to sneak up on him. He always said that he could feel my presence."

"Do you know any shinobi arts?"

Kurenai shook her head. "I wished that I did. Then I could fight my way out of here."

Rin shifted the book off of her lap and laid it onto the floor next to her. Standing up, Rin began browsing through the various titles of books and pulling the ones off of the shelf that peaked her interest. She placed those books onto the ground, laying them out in front of Kurenai.

"Doesn't mean you can't learn," Rin told her. "I learned medical ninjutsu strictly from reading these textbooks."

Kurenai peered at the books curiously. "Genjutsu?"

"Not as flashy as ninjutsu, so you'll be able to practice it discreetly," Rin said. "Besides, maybe you can use it to trick the guards into thinking that you aren't there."

From that point forward, that became both of their routines, both of their lives. To work as Daisuke's slave, to fight against the others in order to survive, to sneak off and learn shinobi arts whenever they could. To pilfer precious commodities to make their lives a bit better, to dream about the leaving but always anchored back to reality, to have nightmares, the red and white Uchiha symbol burned deep into their minds.

All was going well.

Or so they had thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> Here is the first part of Rin's backstory. The entirety of the story actually spawned from Rin's backstory (if you can believe it since there's so much focus on Kakashi), but it helped me to sort of create this AU world. And unfortunately there's always collateral damage and spoils from war so it might be a bit jarring to digest. And in part that kind of shaped Rin to not be as nice as in canon, but her kindness still shone through!
> 
> Thank you for reading! Until next time.   
> -MM


	9. Day and Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: mentions of suicide, torture

**Past**

It was three o'clock in the afternoon. Daisuke was always a man of routine; at this time, he would always be sitting in the break room, either hosting guests or in absence of guests, sipping on some tea by himself while one of the guards updated him on the current state of the village. If there were no guests, then at four o'clock, Daisuke would retreat to his room to take an afternoon nap.

Promptly, at six o'clock, Daisuke Uchiha would emerge from his room for dinner.

After overhearing two of the guard's gossiping that Fugaku Uchiha's visit to the Feudal Lord had been postponed, Rin knew that Daisuke would be occupied for the next three hours, taking his usual afternoon tea and getting his afternoon nap. It was simply that which convinced her that now was the opportune time to sneak in another visit to the library.

Often, Kurenai came with her to the library and Rin admitted that she felt marginally better having another pair of ears to detect if anyone was coming. However, Kurenai had been feeling a bit under the weather all day and had chosen to lie in bed for the better part of the day, while Rin went off to do their chores and secure their lunch.

When Rin returned to the room after another round of chores, she found Kurenai sleeping on her side, legs curled up to her chest. The blanket had been tossed to the side, laying haphazardly on the floor.

Rin sat down on the floor, reaching to feel Kurenai's temperature. The palm of her hand pressed against the girl's forehead, while her other hand rested on her own forehead. Hot. Kurenai's temperature was definitely warmer than her own. Frowning at the turn of events - Kurenai had been fine this morning, just tired - Rin left the room once more, heading to the supply closet to steal some rags.

She went to the nearest bathroom and ran the rags under the tap water. As she was leaving, she felt the presence of a guard and took another roundabout path to get back to her room simply for the sake of avoiding said guard. By the time Rin made it back to the room, a good fifteen minutes had already passed and Kurenai was in no better shape than when Rin left her.

Kneeling down by the ailing girl, Rin grasped her shoulders gently, rolling Kurenai back onto her backside. Grabbing the blanket, she pulled it over Kurenai's body, tucking the blanket underneath her arms and leaving her feet uncovered. With one of the rags, she folded it up into a neat rectangle, placing it across Kurenai's forehead.

Kurenai hardly stirred throughout the entire process, but continued to mutter incomprehensible nonsense.

"I'm going to make a trip to the library," Rin told her, even though it was likely that Kurenai was too out of it to register anything that she was saying. "I'll be back for dinner."

With that, Rin left the extra rag by her bedside and stood up, brushing the dust off of her pants before leaving the room again. Once confirming that there were no guards around, Rin all but bolted to the library, her safe haven, her solace. Once there, Rin picked up a book on poisons and continued where she left off last time.

After all, she had just enough time to finish it before dinner time.

Reading was her solace. Though she had long accepted that this was the reality that she had to live in, that didn't mean she couldn't escape from the reality for a little bit. Reading helped her to do that, helped her to immerse herself so deeply into the contents of the book that she could momentarily forget where she was.

In the current section that she was reading, it broke down some of the most commonly used plant ingredients found in poison based on regions. As she read, she absorbed all of the information and did her best to formulate an image of the location in her mind.

And what type of environment was she living in? Rin could hardly remember since it had been so long since she had gone outside.

Letting out a long sigh, Rin continued to flip through the pages of the textbook.

Fifty pages later, a brief thought crossed her mind that she should go back to check up on Kurenai before dinner time. With that thought in mind, she resolved to go after she finished reading this particular section.

Her hand froze when she heard the familiar sound of the knob on the door turning. Snapping the book shut, Rin shoved it on one of the nearby shelves, not even bothering to place it in its proper position before darting to the very corner of the library, wedging herself in between the wall and the edge of the bookshelf.

Footsteps entered the room. Rin squeezed her eyes shut, holding her breath and praying that whoever it was would quickly leave. Never in her three years of sneaking around did Rin come close to being caught; she had always been extremely careful, yet she had been reckless this time. Too engrossed to have picked up on the approaching chakra signatures.

Rin worked to suppress her chakra signature as much as she possibly could, just like the books had taught her. In her ears, all she could hear was the sound of her pounding rapidly. Her fingers curled around the bottom of the shirt, the cotton soaking up some of the sweat on her hands.

_Oh Kami, oh Kami, please don't notice the misplaced book…!_

"Which book were you looking for?" A male's voice, one that she didn't recognize.

"One on sword fighting techniques," came the response. Upon hearing that voice, Rin really wanted to shrivel up and die. Daisuke's voice. If she was caught, she certainly would be dead. At least if it was a guard, then perhaps she could get away with a beating.

But no, definitely not if it was Daisuke.

There were some sounds of rummaging, but with every second that the pair lingered in the library, the more that her heart threatened to pound out of her ribcage.

The sound of a book falling onto the ground made her flinch, but luckily she was able to rein in her reaction a bit so that she didn't knock anything over. Still, it had been a close one as Rin spotted a textbook teetering off the edge of the shelf.

"This book is out of place."

Rin felt her heart stop as she held her breath, hoping that neither of them would suspect anything.

"The servants have been slacking it seems. Find out who is in charge of keeping this place tidy," came Daisuke's orders. It could have been worse, Rin reasoned in the back of her mind, but it still would fall back onto her. But at least, she wasn't likely to get a death sentence that way.

Rin wasn't out of danger yet. Not when she heard footsteps making their way closer to her. Based on her memory of the layout of the library and judging from the volume of the sound, Rin concluded that they were one shelf away from reaching the one where she was hiding. She desperately hoped that they would find the book that they were looking for and leave soon.

_Book on sword fighting techniques._

If it was possible, Rin could have died out of shock right there. The very book that they needed was also the same book that she almost knocked over. The same book that was within arms reach. The same book that was barely a foot away from her.

She was screwed.

She racked her mind for all of the ways that she could possibly leave this place undetected, but if the two of them came to her aisle and found that book, there was no way they wouldn't see her. Rin contemplated grabbing the book and slipping it onto the shelf where they were currently browsing, but there was no way that she would get by unnoticed. If she stole the book and hid it, that wouldn't keep them away.

What if she moved the book further down the shelf?

With that in mind, Rin reached over and snatched the book off of the shelf. Worming her way through the backside of the shelf, with just barely enough space for her to fit without scraping against the wall, she slowly made her way to the front end of the shelf. Footsteps could be heard again. A feel for their chakra signatures indicated that they were at the end of the other shelf and were now making their way back to check her row.

A sense of urgency welled in her chest, all of her instincts were screaming at her to hide. Leaving the book on the shelf, at about the halfway point of the shelf, Rin began to scramble back to her hiding spot as quickly as she could, while trying to not trip over her own two feet.

At one point, Rin stumbled but her hand shot out to catch herself against the wall, and she had to stop herself from emitting a strangled cry from her voice as she realized that action had made a sound. She halted her movements altogether, listening for the duo, trying to get a gauge on their current location.

There was nothing but silence.

Then she heard it. The sound of breathing, so close to her ear. Slowly, she craned her head to face the bookshelf, only to make eye contact with Daisuke, who was peering at her through the cracks between the books. Her body jerked backwards, her back hitting the wall, palms pressed flat against the wall, as if putting more distance between her and Daisuke would save her.

The other male, who turned out to be a guard, had rounded the bookshelf and gripped on her arm. Placing so much pressure on her arm that would surely leave bruises, the guard forcibly dragged her out of hiding. Rin hardly bothered to resist, knowing that it would only make it worse for herself if she did.

But what was worse than death?

Torture before death?

The guard pulled her small body in front of him. Raising his left foot, the sole of his shoe connected against her backside, shoving the young girl to her knees. Her head was bowed to the ground, forehead making contact with the wooden floor. Her hands were splayed out on both sides of her.

It was an uncomfortable position to be in, but Rin hardly dared to move, much less breathe.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm in charge of cleaning the library, Uchiha sama," Rin murmured, her voice reverberating against the wood.

"Is that so? Then where are the cleaning supplies?"

"I was rearranging the books on the shelves." Rin had never been more glad for her quick thinking than right then.

"Then why did you hide when you heard us?"

"I was frightened," Rin admitted. "Usually, no one approaches the library so it was unsettling to hear someone come into the room. I acted on instinct and hid."

"And why did you not come out after you were aware that we were only here to find a book and assist us?"

"I did? I tried to move the book closer to the front…"

That had been the wrong thing to say as Rin felt the bottom of the guard's shoe collide with the right side of her face. Her head jerked to the side, slamming against the wooden floor from the impact. Black spots danced around in her vision as she shakily pushed herself back up and resumed her bowing position.

Her head hurt like a bitch, but Rin didn't dare to utter a single indication of her pain.

"How old are you?"

"Thirteen, Uchiha sama."

"Too young for your liking?" Rin knew that wasn't directed at her, but rather at the guard who was standing behind, no doubt ready to strike her again if she went out of bounds.

"I don't believe that you were simply cleaning, servant," Daisuke said. "Take her to the dungeons. See to it that she doesn't get out until after Fugaku's visit."

Rin felt her heart drop. The dungeons. The place that she heard so many rumors about. It was as good as a death sentence, but she didn't have any energy within her to fight back as the guard hauled her to her feet by the collar of her shirt. Jabbing her backside with the hilt of his sword, the guard prodded her forward, guiding her out of the library.

She went through a series of twists and turns that she tried to memorize, but eventually gave up. There was no way that she was going to escape from the dungeons, so there wasn't any point in memorizing the route. Instead she focused on putting one foot in front of the other, trying to resist the urge to cry. She fought to keep her tears at bay, while she silently apologized to Kurenai for not being able to say goodbye.

At least Kurenai was safe. At least she hadn't come with her like she usually did. Rin silently prayed for Kurenai's safety and hoped that the girl would never come looking for her.

When the guard guided her down a set of stairs, a heavy feeling weighed on Rin's heart. That heavy feeling, stemming from the fact that she would most likely never see daylight again.

At the end of their descent, there was a gate, locked with a padlock. Nudging Rin aside, the guard grabbed a key from his belt and twisted the padlock open. The creaky gate swung open and Rin stepped through it without even being prodded.

There was hardly any light in the dungeons, save for a dim light on the wall. Rin continued to step forward into the unknown, taking in comfort from the familiar jabs on her back. At least, she wasn't here all alone.

At some point, the guard stopped her. Rin could make out the outline of metal bars. The jingling of keys informed her that there was another lock. A warm hand gripped on her arm, pulling her forward before she felt a hand push her back, shoving her into the darkness. Rin let out a noise as she crashed face first into the concrete ground, scraping her knees and palms against the concrete.

The loud slam of the metal door closing on her echoed throughout the dungeon.

Rin scrambled to her feet and reached the front of her cell, her scratched palms wrapping themselves around the cool metal bars. In the dim lighting, she could see that the guard was leaving, going back the way that they had come from. Rin wanted to yell at him, to beg him to not leave, but even on the brink of death, Rin wanted to retain a single shred of dignity.

Tears sliding down her cheeks, Rin released her grip on the metal bars and sank down on the floor. Pressing her back against the wall, she retracted her legs, wrapping her arms around them and burying her face into her knees.

No one could see her crying in the dark anyways.

The logical side of her brain told her that crying was only going to dehydrate her and make her die faster, but Rin didn't care. After all of the shit she had been through, she deserved to have a breakdown.

Sobs wracked her body, before slowly ebbing away into hiccups and sniffles. At some point, she fell asleep, only to be jerked away by every little sound including the sound of water dripping from somewhere and the sound of a creature scurrying across the floor. Rin suspected it was a rat, but what she couldn't see, she couldn't be afraid of.

Rin promptly fell back to sleep.

The days began to bleed together. Without being able to see the sunlight, Rin wasn't sure when it was day or when it was night. It was hard to tell how much time had passed; for all she knew, she could have slept for many hours or for ten minutes. The only constant in her life was the food and water delivery, once a day. Or at least, what she assumed was once a day.

It was hardly enough to fill her up, but at least it helped to mitigate some of her hunger. The amount of water was only enough to keep her alive, but her mouth constantly still felt dry, her throat felt scratchy and her voice sounded hoarse when she tried speaking. Rin was hyper aware that it was most likely Daisuke's plan, to keep her alive so that he could torture her even more by stringing her along, but Rin couldn't resist the temptation. Not when food and water were sitting at the front of her cell, within reach.

At some point, Rin became convinced that she was hearing things. There were two voices in her head, one telling her to escape, while the other countered that she couldn't. The two voices continued to squabble back and forth, increasing in intensity until they broke out into a shouting match.

It was grating on Rin's nerves and she just wanted both of them to go away. Her hands clutched the sides of her head, attempting to shake out the voices, but to no avail. At one point, Rin had even taken to banging her head against the concrete, but that had done nothing except causing her forehead to bleed. It wasn't until Rin screamed out her frustration with her parched throat did it finally cease.

It was silent once more. Rin healed the wound on her forehead and went back to sleep.

_It was a blur of red and white on every one of their backs. She always noted that the coloring was a stark contrast compared to the various shades of black, gray, and navy blue that the Uchiha clan often wore. To them, the Uchiwa fan was a symbol of pride. A symbol of their loyalty. A symbol of their identity._

_To her, it was a symbol of her greatest nightmare._

_It didn't matter where she went. Every corner she turned, there would be a giant Uchiwa fan painted on the walls of the castle. Every road she walked, there would be Uchiwa fans present on the flaps of each of the vendor stalls. Everyone she saw either had a Uchiwa fan on the back of their shirts or present on the armband that they wore on their sleeves._

_It was everywhere. There was nowhere she could run or hide to avoid it. The only comfort she received was associated with nightfall, where the Uchihas were off to bed, where it was too dark for her to see the symbol glaring back at her. Too bad the symbol was burned into her mind and came to haunt her every time she closed her eyes._

_Such a symbol she had learned to associate with power. Authority. Fear._

Even when her eyes snapped open in the pitch black darkness, she could practically see the Uchiha symbol burned into the wall across from her. Everywhere she looked, there would be a Uchiwa fan there. Even on each individual metal bar, all five of them.

She was convinced that she was slowly going insane. Or was she already?

Her eyes slid open when she heard footsteps approaching her cell. Her delivery had already come, so Rin had no doubt whoever it was, was here to toy with her. Or maybe to finally kill her for once and all. Yet she made no move to get up. Instead, she continued to lifelessly lay on the ground as she spotted a beam of light emitting from the flashlight. Her glassy eyes barely glanced up to take in the newcomer's appearance.

Rin wished she could say that she didn't feel an ounce of pain as the guards had their fun in torturing her, but she felt every hit. The guards had taken to kicking her around the cell like a ragdoll and all she could do was curl up and wrap her arms around her head in an attempt to protect it. Their laughter grated on her nerves, but her annoyance quickly fleeted as the next kick came.

She was only half awake when one of the guards lifted her off of the floor by the collar of her shirt, propping her upwards by hooking his arms underneath her armpits. As far as she could tell through her bleary vision and dazed mind, the different guards took turns treating her like a punching bag, like they had some personal vendetta against her.

Rin could finally understand what it meant to have the living daylights punched out of her. She blacked out in the middle of it, so she wasn't aware of what came afterwards.

All she knew when she came to was that her body was hurting all over and she had been bleeding in a couple places. It had taken entirely too much effort to begin channelling a bit of medical ninjutsu, starting from her hands and working up to her arms, then her torso, and down her legs. She ran out of chakra in the middle of healing and was knocked out once more. When she came to her senses again, she continued the healing process.

In her current state of health, her chakra reserves were abysmal. Rin wasn't sure how many times she had passed out in the middle of healing, but at least she finally finished healing her entire body. At least it gave her something to do, even if she hated feeling like she had been stomped all over by a horse.

To be honest, she might have preferred that to mercilessly beating by the guards.

She was completely healed only for them to come and beat her all over again.

The cycle continued. Rin wasn't sure how many days elapsed in between each of the guard's visits, but she would take advantage of the time interval to heal herself. After their latest visit, Rin didn't even bother to heal herself.

She laid there, letting her wounds slowly bleed out, letting her body ache with every movement, letting herself feel a stabbing pain each time she accidentally irritated her broken rib. She could heal it, make the pain go away, but what was the point? What was the point when she would hurt all over again?

When she closed her eyes, she witnessed her worst nightmare. When her eyes were opened, she lived in her nightmare. It was a never ending cycle, haunting her everywhere.

Most of her thoughts were incomprehensible, full of nonsense. Yet there was one that rang loud and clear.

She wanted to die.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> Sorry for the cliffhanger, but it'll be a recurring thing throughout cause I love them lol. The good news is that you know what happens in the present timeline so you know she's still alive. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! Until next time.   
> -MM


	10. At Their Mercy

**Past**

At the tender age of eight, Itachi Uchiha effectively learned how to ruin a person's life without them knowing it.

Even with anger clouding his mind, he still had impeccable aim. Every kunai he had tossed made its way to the center of the target, which only served to fuel his anger even further. If only Itachi could get away with imperfection, even just once. But no, his body was conditioned to strive for perfection even when Itachi didn't want it.

"Figures I would find you here," came a very familiar voice. In the darkness, Itachi could only make out his best friend's silhouette as he approached him. The kunai throwing stopped as Itachi decided to plop down at the base of a tree.

"Imagine my surprise when the head of the clan came knocking on my door asking if I knew where you were," Shisui commented lightly as he sat down cross legged right next to the brooding heir. Itachi didn't say anything as a response.

"Mikoto san is worried about you," Shisui added, cocking his head to the side to gauge his younger cousin's reaction. Not a single muscle in his face moved.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm tired of heeding to the clan's every whim," Itachi finally confessed. "Sometimes, I wish I wasn't the clan heir."

Shisui prompted Itachi to go on.

"Toshiro already unlocked his Sharingan. The clan elders are pressuring me to unlock my Sharingan. They believe that it is abnormal that I am so slow in unlocking the Sharingan, especially since I am hailed to be a supposed genius," Itachi explained. At this, he shifted his body around so that his dark eyes bore into Shisui's. The blackness in his eyes slowly ebbed away, a red hue coloring his eyes. A lone tomoe spun rapidly in his eyes as an unwilling tear slid down his cheek.

"Why would I want this if it takes a death to unlock it?" Itachi asked, voice quivering and hands clenched tightly by his side. "What is there to be proud of by unlocking the Sharingan early?"

Shisui's eyes softened as he stared at all of the pain hidden in Itachi's eyes. If he was being honest with himself, Shisui agreed with Itachi's sentiments wholeheartedly.

Shisui allowed his own eyes to bleed red, three tomoes spinning rapidly in his eyes until it formed into a shuriken shaped pattern. Itachi's eyes widened as he witnessed the transformation go beyond what was normally seen. The infamous Mangekyo Sharingan. Possessed by few in the clan, containing unfathomable power.

"How?" That was the only word that made it out of Itachi's mouth.

Shisui slid his eyes shut for a few moments before his eyes snapped open, already reverted back to its normal black coloring. Itachi turned off his own Sharingan, feeling the clarity associated with the enhanced vision slowly fading away.

"To possess these eyes, you must shoulder a great burden," Shisui murmured, staring off in the distance, not quite able to meet Itachi's eyes. "In times of war, we are nothing more than weapons at the Uchihas' disposal. You won't be able to hide the fact that you have a Sharingan forever; however, if your eyes evolve into the Mangekyo, I would suggest keeping it a secret. After all, even many of our own vie to attain such power."

"The clansmen will fight you for it?"

Shisui shrugged. "I've heard the stories. Each eye holds a different power; others may not be able to use it effectively, but they don't care. They just want the power at their disposal."

"What does yours do?"

Shisui tilted his head upwards, his eyes locking onto the half full moon. "I don't know and a part of me doesn't want to find out. Quite frankly, the power that I wield in these eyes scares me. Even if they may be our enemy, I do not want to know what these eyes can do against them."

"How-?"

Shisui knew what Itachi wanted to ask even without him needing to finish his question. He tore his gaze away from the moon, boring into Itachi's.

"You let someone precious to you die."

Itachi felt chills go down his spine.

"Whether or not you were the one who killed them, the burden of their death will still weigh on your mind. Their death will constantly haunt you in your dreams. So you're right, why attain this power at the cost of losing someone irreplaceable?"

"War is going to break out again, you know," Shisui continued. "With all of these skirmishes happening lately with the Senju, it's only a matter of time before the peace is broken once more. Perhaps that is why they are pushing you to unlock the Sharingan, even children will become weapons of war."

"You were sent out in the last squad, weren't you?" Itachi questioned.

Shisui nodded. "To the northern border. The Senju were encroaching on our land even if they claimed they were not. We were able to push them back and reclaim that patch of land, but at the cost of half of our squad."

"Half?" Itachi whispered. His eyes fell to his lap as he thought of those who never made it back, of their families, of their friends that they left behind. Who were grieving. Who were in pain. Powerless to do anything to prevent it from happening again.

But Itachi could.

"What are you thinking?" Shisui prompted.

"I want to preserve the peace," Itachi announced, pushing himself to his feet. "For the sake of our clan and the future."

A faint smile graced Shisui's face. "It won't be that easy, you know. Many of the older Uchihas are war hawks and would rather have war than to play nice with the Senjus. Even now, many are opposed to Fugaku's declaration of peace."

"The rivalry has gone on long enough. The first thing I'll do when I become clan leader is to strive for peace."

Easier said than done, but if there was anyone in the Uchiha clan more committed to achieving said goal, it would be Itachi Uchiha. It would take more than ten years, another war would break out in the meantime, hundreds would die, he would go down as the most hated Uchiha leader in history, but all of it was worth it. Peace was worth it.

Itachi was willing to put his life on the line to achieve it.

Itachi's attitude towards learning the ropes to become the clan leader had taken a complete turn to the point where Fugaku had been convinced that it was a genjutsu of some sort. After confirming that it wasn't, in fact, a genjutsu, the entire situation left him completely puzzled at his son's sudden attitude change.

When Fugaku confronted Mikoto, the latter claimed that Itachi hadn't mentioned anything of the sort to her. Shisui had been next to be questioned, but the boy had been surprisingly tight lipped about the entire situation, feigning ignorance.

"I just went to find him like you asked," the boy had responded. "I don't know much beyond that."

After leaving Shisui's house that day, Fugaku was convinced that he needed to keep an eye on Shisui even more now. The boy had first warranted his attention when he unlocked his Sharingan at a young age, but his presence had been pushed to the back of Fugaku's mind. He was aware that Itachi frequently hung out with Shisui outside of the Academy, but that had resulted in improvements in his skills in the shinobi arts, so Fugaku wasn't complaining.

As the boy grew older, graduating the Academy at age nine, Fugaku quickly began to realize that he was a prodigy in his own right. A rare occurrence as he was a member from the branch side of the Uchihas. So much so that his latest squad leader came back from the border with only praises for the young boy.

Yet it seemed that Shisui wanted nothing to do with the main branch of the Uchihas, with the sole exception of spending time with Itachi.

Fugaku had been entirely caught off guard when Itachi had requested Shisui to be permitted to join them on the visit to the Feudal Lord.

"Why?"

Itachi nonchalantly shrugged. "He will be my second in command when I become the clan leader. It would be wise that he is experienced in clan politics."

Itachi had stated it with so much conviction, so much certainty that Fugaku didn't have the heart to deny his request. Not that Fugaku was opposed to his choice, but rather disappointed because everyone had been pushing for Toshiro to become Itachi's second in command.

"Why not Toshiro?" Fugaku just had to ask, even if to satisfy his own curiosity.

Itachi shot him a look. "I want someone who actually voices their own opinions."

And that had been the end of that particular conversation.

When that particular topic was brought up again at the next clan meeting, many of the Elders and higher ranking members of the main branch had been appalled by Itachi's decision, including Toshiro's father.

"A member from the branch family as second in command?" an Elder hissed, uncaring that said boy was sitting in the back row in the same room. Even from the back row, Shisui could hear every word, crystal clear.

Some of the more sympathetic Uchihas had shot him pitying looks, but his expression remained impassive.

As the various Uchihas continued to toss around their opinions, no one seemed to care that it was entirely too early to be discussing this issue, a decade too early.

"If I, as a clan leader, must run every single decision by the council," Itachi began, his voice capturing everyone's attention in the room. "Then I am no leader, just merely a figurehead."

The room remained silent even as the last word punctuated the air. Itachi sat back down, dark eyes roving the crowd to take in their reactions. Some had disapproving looks, others remained neutral, while others were proud at the eight year old boy's declaration. Fugaku, in particular, had been proud of his son's bold display, even if he would never outwardly show it.

One wasn't afraid to show it. The crowd watched as another eight year old clambered to his feet, climbing atop of his chair to be seen over everyone else. A wide grin was plastered on his face as he slowly lifted his hands and began to clap.

Each clap reverberated into the room, echoing off of the walls. No one joined him.

"My name is Toshiro Uchiha. Whether or not I am second in command does not matter to me, but rather, what matters, is that we have a leader at the helm, not a puppet." While Toshiro spoke, his father's face had increasingly turned more red as he tried to discreetly tug on his son's sleeve to get his attention. Toshiro had chosen to ignore his father.

"Itachi san has all of my respect and loyalty," Toshiro added. "He is the mark of a true leader."

And finally, much to his father's relief, Toshiro sat back down in his seat. But this time, there was an applause, mostly consisting of the younger members, but it was clear that it was the majority.

Itachi's eyes locked on with Toshiro's, the latter shooting Itachi a wide grin while Itachi tried to express his gratitude to the other boy. Toshiro gave him a thumbs up. Itachi then turned to his father, trying to gauge his opinion from his impassive expression.

"Looks like it has been decided," his father informed him. "I will inform the Feudal Lord that we will postpone our visit so that Shisui will have enough time to get acquainted with our claim politics."

There was no amount of words that Itachi could say to express his gratitude towards his father's support.

* * *

To put it bluntly, Daisuke Uchiha was the sort of the crazy uncle in the family that everyone tried to stay away from and only visited when they couldn't get out of it. As the head of the clan, Fugaku had no choice but to pay him a visit every once in a while. It also didn't help that Daisuke had been instated as a Feudal Lord of their land. Even if he didn't wield much authority in decision making, his position demanded respect from the village.

In Itachi's opinion, having to pay visits to Daisuke was the worst part about learning how to be the clan leader. He had met the man in a previous occasion, at an age where he was too young to remember most things, but Daisuke had proven to be frighteningly memorable. Memorable, but not in a good way.

Throughout the entire duration of the trip to the Feudal Lord's manor, Fugaku made sure to drill the dos and don'ts into both of their heads, repeating the same things that Itachi had already heard at least three other times from other people. Both children were wise enough to not comment on it and instead, mentally prepared themselves for their impending meeting with Daisuke Uchiha.

The moment that they arrived at the front gates of the manor, Itachi spotted at least three guards shifting their relaxed stance to a more rigid one. There were at least five more guards hidden elsewhere, and Itachi took it as a challenge to pick out as many as he possibly could.

That particular challenge had only lasted less than half a minute; they weren't cleverly hidden in Itachi's opinion.

He stood up straight as a guard approached them, nodding to his father, eyes barely glancing at the two children. The guard and Fugaku exchanged a couple of words before the guard finally nodded, jerking his head in the direction of the front door. Fugaku was the first to follow the guard, followed by Itachi and Shisui, walking side by side.

Though Shisui hardly showed it, Itachi knew that his eyes were sweeping every inch of the manor, taking in every single detail, just like he had been doing himself. And that continued until the guard led them to the dining room, where plates filled the entirety of the table with enough food to seemingly feed an entire army.

Itachi followed his father's lead, pulling out one of the chairs. With a little boost of chakra, Itachi was successfully able to seat himself in it. His shoulders barely reached the top of the table, neck straining to be able to see above the piles of food.

One particular detail that caught Itachi's attention were the servants that stood rigidly against the wall, side by side. None of them spoke nor made eye contact with anyone else. Neither did they move, which suggested that they weren't here to serve dinner. Then what was their purpose for being here?

Itachi studied them, one by one, hoping to receive some sort of answer to all of the burning questions in his mind. Yet most of them didn't look up, so he couldn't really see their faces. The faces that Itachi could see were all the same: impassive.

Just as Itachi was about to give up on his self imposed quest, his eyes landed on a girl, with long, raven hair framing the sides of her face. Almost like she felt eyes on her, the girl looked up, her red eyes locking on with Itachi's. Unlike the others, the girl didn't break eye contact; instead, she continued to stare into his eyes, desperately trying to convey something to him.

Her lips moved, ever so slightly, slowly forming each syllable. It had taken Itachi a lot longer to decipher her meaning than it would have been if he had activated the Sharingan, but he wasn't supposed to have the Sharingan. Instead, his mind slowly strung together the syllables to finally come up with a decipherable message.

_Dungeons. Help._

Itachi gave the girl a small head nod before he turned back around, right as Daisuke Uchiha stepped into the dining room, flanked by two guards on either side of him. Daisuke held a hand up. The guards halted, taking a few steps back and obscuring themselves in the shadows while Daisuke's attention finally landed on them.

A servant scrambled out of the kitchen, hastily sliding out Daisuke's chair. The man didn't even bother to spare the servant a single glance as he maneuvered himself into the seat, hands smoothing down his robes.

"It's been a while Fugaku," Daisuke murmured. He snapped his fingers; two servants emerged from the kitchen each with a bottle of wine. They poured the wine in the glass as Fugaku and Daisuke locked eyes for a moment.

Fugaku smiled. "Indeed it has. How was the trip?"

"Wonderful," Daisuke answered. He grabbed the wine glass, raising it into the air, tipping it on Fugaku's direction before he took a sip from the wine. "I came back with a prized souvenir."

"Is that so?" Fugaku replied. "I suppose you wouldn't mind showing it off then?"

"It is among the rest of my collection," Daisuke said. "You know where to find it."

Itachi subtly glanced back and forth between his father and Daisuke, attempting to figure out the underlying meaning between both of their words, but came up short.

The remainder of the dinner continued in a similar fashion, with Fugaku and Daisuke exchanging words periodically, in between bites of food, until Daisuke finally asked about the current state of affairs. Fugaku paused, slowly lowering his chopsticks before placing them neatly on his rice bowl.

"Still in an era of peace," Fugaku eventually responded.

Daisuke had the audacity to scoff. "Peace? For every day that another Senju lives, there will never be peace between us."

"I don't even know why you agreed to the cease fire in the first place," Daisuke continued. "We were winning. And now what? The Senjus have enough time to cultivate new talent. And now what? The Yellow Flash is in his prime right now and we have no one to counter him. We could have eliminated him while he was still a child if the war had continued."

"There is no winning or losing," Fugaku responded. "There is only dying. We may have won, but at what cost?"

Daisuke tsked. "Becoming a father has turned you soft hearted." At this point, Daisuke's beady eyes slid towards Itachi. A chill ran down his spine, goosebumps formed all over his arms and legs. Despite that, Itachi didn't shy away from Daisuke's stare; instead, he continued to stare right back.

Daisuke smiled. "Your son will become a fearless leader in the future. For the sake of the Uchiha; hopefully, he does not have as much of a bleeding heart as you do."

"You may not be, but others are tired of constantly being embroiled in war," Fugaku stated. "Is there ever going to be a generation that grows up in an era of peace?"

"The younger that they learn, the better off they will be in the future. The notion, the longing for peace is for the weak. I did not fight two wars to have us compromise with the Senjus. Our ancestors did not die for us to make peace with the Senjus. They're practically extinct nowadays; most of what is left of their forces are their allies. We can easily finish them."

This time, it hadn't been Fugaku who responded. It was Itachi.

"Peace is not for the weak. It is human nature to strive for some sort of stability in our lives. Even if a shinobi fights for the sake of achieving peace, they are still stronger than one who fights simply for the sake of fighting."

Daisuke's eyes slid over to look at Itachi. He remained silent for a moment, before he finally spoke. "A fearless leader, indeed. A leader should not be afraid to voice their opinions; you have taught him well, Fugaku."

Fugaku took the compliment in stride, even if it was quite obvious that Daisuke had been anything but genuine.

The topic veered away from the discussion of war and the rest of the dinner was finished peacefully, or as peacefully as dinner could be with Daisuke Uchiha.

Once dinner ended, that was when the chaos started. After Daisuke exited the dining room, Itachi couldn't help but to turn back around when he heard noises behind him. It was at that moment that Itachi witnessed the most inhumane thing in his life.

Daisuke made the servants fight for their dinner. If Itachi had known, he would have eaten less.

Servants had scrambled to the table, desperately grabbing what they could. Some had climbed atop of the table, shoving others away when they had gotten too close to their territory. Fights broke out all over the dining room as some opted to steal from others rather than scramble for it at the table. Itachi's attention was focused on one particular girl, the raven haired girl from earlier. His eyes followed her as she casually ducked under the arm of one of the servants, one hand reaching for the food on the table while the other casually took food from the other woman's stash.

"Entertaining, isn't it?" It took all of Itachi's reflexes to keep him from flinching at the sudden voice.

"A mild version of war," Daisuke said. "Isn't it good that they are learning so young?"

It wasn't, but Itachi didn't voice that thought aloud.

"Come, I have something to show you."

The three of them followed Daisuke. Itachi snuck a glance at his father, who wore a grim expression on his face. Whatever Daisuke wanted to show them, it wasn't anything good.

When Daisuke led them down a set of stairs, Itachi became increasingly aware that this was possibly the dungeons that the girl had mentioned. But who was he to help? Was the girl in danger of being taken to the dungeons? Or was there already someone else down there?

Itachi would soon find out.

It was dark. Itachi's eyes fixated on the light coming from the guard's flashlight as his eyes adjusted to the dark. He was hyper aware that Daisuke, his father, and Shisui had all activated their Sharingans to help them see better in the dark. Itachi refrained from activating his own; he didn't want anyone to know he possessed the Sharingan yet.

Daisuke stopped in front of a jail cell. The guard shone the light onto the body that laid on the floor, curling up into a ball. The girl's backside faced them. Blood was splattered all over the jail cell, drenched all over the remaining tatters of her clothes.

_Torture._

"No mercy," Daisuke told him. "Remember this: death is too merciful. Now, watch and learn. It will be useful when you become clan leader."

Itachi didn't agree. He didn't want to learn how to torture someone. Information could be as easily extracted by using the Sharingan.

The guard unlocked the cell, stepping inside the cell. The girl didn't exhibit any outward indication that she registered another presence in the cell. And then the torture began.

Every instinct in his body wanted him to turn around so he could stop witnessing the guard beat the helpless girl, but he fought against it. Every kick, every punch, Itachi watched it all. In his mind, Itachi knew that his conscience wouldn't let him get by without doing something to help the girl, but what could he do?

He was no medic and he had no plausible reason to convince Daisuke to let her go.

Eventually, Daisuke snapped his fingers, motioning the guard to stop. The guard nodded, bowing his head slightly before he stepped out of the cell. Pulling the door shut once more, the guard fiddled with the padlock chain, securing the lock once more.

Daisuke turned to Fugaku. "That's just a small lesson for your son on how to get prisoners to talk. Break them first and they'll tell you everything."

Itachi was running out of time. He needed to come up with something fast, anything to help the girl.

"What did she do?" Itachi found himself asking. Partly to stall for time and partly to get ideas on how to help her out.

"Snuck around instead of doing her assigned work," Daisuke answered. "She's only sorry that she had to get caught. Who knows how long she's been doing it...I hardly step into the library, after all."

That hadn't been useful at all.

As Itachi watched Daisuke start to move towards the exit, Itachi urged his brain to come up with something or some sort of miracle to happen. Itachi had been moments away from blurting out his true thoughts when a green aura caught his eye.

Medical ninjutsu. Itachi's eyes widened; his pleas had been heard.

Daisuke had an entirely different reaction. "Pfft, what does she think that is going to do for her?"

Itachi steeled himself, whirling around to face Daisuke.

"Uchiha sama, if I may interject."

Daisuke nodded, gesturing for him to continue.

"We've always had a shortage of medical ninjas in our force. If she can already utilize the basics of medical ninjutsu, I believe that she will be a valuable addition to our force when another war breaks out."

"And how are you going to make sure she remains loyal to the Uchiha?"

_No thanks to you,_ Itachi thought.

"We are her saviors, so it is natural that she may repay her debt with her services. If necessary, then the Uchiha isn't renowned for their genjutsu prowess for nothing, am I right?"

Daisuke's lips curled up into a smile. "I like the way that you think. Do what you want with her; I'll leave her to your care."

Itachi refrained from letting out an audible sigh as Daisuke walked away. The guard unlocked the jail cell once more, pushing open the creaking door. With a slight head nod to Fugaku, the guard left, basking them in darkness once more.

Fugaku placed a hand on Itachi's shoulder. "You have a kind heart."

Did he though? Why did Itachi feel like he just ruined her life?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> And this concludes the first arc of Rin's backstory! How did you feel about it? For me personally, Rin's backstory was fun because I got to play around with a lot of things and it was also what sparked the setting for this story and from there, it spawned the rest of the plot line. It's kind of depressing tho - I mean this entire story is depressing so no surprises there.
> 
> Theory time (because I love hearing how different your minds are compared to mine!):  
> -Why did Rin end up working the Uchihas?  
> -How did Shisui unlock his Mangekyo? This actually wasn't relevant to the story but somehow I found a way to include it - coming up in a couple of chapters!
> 
> So the upcoming chapters is where we start ramping up the pace in the present plot line (featuring our two favorite geniuses and the snake) as well as a continuation of Kakashi's childhood arc where it'll start to explain how/why Kakashi ended up with the Uchihas.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Until next time.  
> -MM


	11. An Unspoken Conversation

**Present**

Like clockwork, Kakashi was up by the crack of dawn. Flinging the blanket off of his torso, his feet swung to touch the wooden floor. Kakashi folded the blanket, leaving it behind on the couch before he padded silently to the bathroom. The door shut with a soft click.

Kakashi rolled his shoulders, moved his head around, trying to work out the aches in muscles from sleeping on a couch that had been entirely too small for him. He stretched out his arms, stopping short when a stinging pain shot up his side. Lowering his arms slowly to the side, Kakashi inspected his wound in the mirror.

No blood. That was good news.

Retrieving his top that he had left out to dry the previous night, Kakashi quickly pulled it over his head, nose wrinkling as he caught a whiff of the musty smell. No matter, he would only need to deal with it until he went home.

Kakashi stepped out of the bathroom quietly, eyes flickering to the down the hall where he felt a faint chakra signature. After confirming that Rin was still asleep, he made his move to the front door.

His hand was wrapped around the metal handle, ready to push the door open, when he suddenly faltered. Turning away from the door, Kakashi scoured the living room before he spotted a small notepad jammed between two medical textbooks. Yanking out the notepad, Kakashi undid the cap of the pen and scribbled two words onto the paper. After ripping off the top sheet and capping the pen, Kakashi slid the notepad back in its original position.

The single sheet of paper was left on top of the blanket.

Kakashi darted across the rooftops on his way home, ignoring the slight ache on his side. The decrease in travel time was worth it; Kakashi's sensitive nose couldn't stand the smell on his clothes any longer.

Kenzou's girlfriend was probably long gone at this point, or maybe the two of them had moved to Kenzou's bedroom, but Kakashi didn't want to take any chances to walk in on them again, so he landed on the ledge of his window. Jamming the tip of a kunai in the crook of the window, Kakashi used the kunai as a leverage to force the window open. The window budged, creaking loudly as Kakashi pushed up the window. Landing in the comfort of his own room, Kakashi shut the window, making a mental note to fix the lock again.

Stripping as he walked to the bathroom, Kakashi tossed the bundle of clothes into the basket and grabbed the first items that he saw before entering into the bathroom. Kakashi was supposed to meet up with Obito soon, but no matter.

Obito would be late anyways, so Kakashi took the opportunity to take another shower.

Obito appeared at the training grounds an hour after their scheduled meeting time. In the midst of target practice, Kakashi held up his other hand, palm facing Obito.

"Save your excuse."

Obito huffed, rolling his eyes. "I have a legitimate excuse this time. Itachi wanted to meet me this morning. I swear both of you wake up at such ungodly hours."

Kakashi ceased his target practice, placing the kunai back in its holster.

"What about?"

"The war, what else?" Obito responded. "The situation isn't looking too good for us so he wanted to get my opinion on some things."

"You?" Kakashi raised a questioning eyebrow. "What tactical strategy could you possibly offer?"

Obito slapped the back of Kakashi's head lightly. "Oi, just because I'm not as smart as you when it comes to these kinds of things doesn't mean I don't know anything about it."

"So?" Kakashi prompted.

"I recommended Itachi to talk to you," Obito murmured.

"Ah, I'm sure there are plenty of other people that Itachi can speak with instead of me."

"Are you still on your inferiority complex? If Itachi cared about the fact that you aren't an Uchiha, he would have never promoted you to be second in command. Here, skills speak louder than your background."

Kakashi supposed that it was a good opportunity to gather information, but he would have to be careful. Itachi Uchiha wasn't as easy to fool as Obito was. A wrong move and Itachi would see right through his facade.

"When?"

Obito smiled.

It was oddly disconcerting to be at the heart of the Uchiha compound. It was only Kakashi's second time stepping foot into the Uchiha compound, but he was familiar enough to note that nothing had changed. The first had been over ten years ago, when he was being taken to see Fugaku after entering the village. At the time, the walk through the compound had been a show of superiority, as well as serving to be a warning.

The same eerie feeling crawled up Kakashi's spine as he registered at least five pairs of eyes on him. The air was suffocating; he took more frequent and deeper breaths to compensate. There seemed to be something looming over his head, bearing down on him, making every hair on his arm stand up. He couldn't describe the feeling; all that he knew was that it made him so on edge that every tiny movement increased his paranoia tenfold.

Nothing had changed since ten years ago.

Yet walking side by side with Obito, it was glaringly obvious what the problem was. While his posture was stiff and his movements were unnatural, Obito carried a lackadaisical feel in his steps. While his fingers hovered over the handle of a kunai, fingers brushing over the metal ever now and then for reassurance, Obito's hands swung lightly by his side. While his eyes were fixated on the path in front of them, Obito's eyes wandered all over the place. When Obito spotted a familiar person, he would stop to talk. While Obito conversed with ease, Kakashi felt restless.

Right as Obito wrapped up his conversation with an elderly, a group of kids suddenly ran out of the alleyway, darting across the street as they chased after the one in the lead. The sudden movement startled Kakashi, his reflexes kicking in, but his brain was quick enough to calm himself down before he drew a weapon.

Obito stared at him oddly. "Kakashi? Let's go."

Kakashi nodded, falling into step beside Obito. The laughter from the children grew fainter and fainter until it disappeared altogether, but was quickly replaced by the sound of a mother scolding her son at the front door.

There was life. There was laughter. There was normalcy.

In every single way, Kakashi didn't belong. If he had known that he would have to meet Itachi at the compound instead of at his office in the administrative building, Kakashi would have never agreed to come.

One time was enough.

Kakashi never thought he would feel a sense of relief when they finally arrived at the main house. While the heavy feeling was still present, the eyes were off of him.

He followed Obito's lead, taking off his shoes and aligning them neatly next to Obito. Then he stepped into the house, hanging behind while Obito went to find Itachi.

The man in question arrived right as Kakashi was occupied with scouring the many titles on the bookshelf. Itachi gestured for him to take a seat on the couch.

Kakashi obliged.

"Sorry about meeting here. My parents are busy so I have to watch over Sasuke today."

"Obito said you wanted to see me."

Itachi nodded. "I believe that your knowledge will be helpful. How much do you know about Minato Namikaze?"

"Any knowledge that I have about his abilities is from about fifteen years ago and I don't exchange hands with him much during the war, so I'm afraid that my information wouldn't be very useful to you at all."

Itachi shook his head. "I don't want to know about his abilities. Tell me what he is like as a person. Specifically, his attitude towards the war."

"He would rather have peace. During his inauguration, he promised to maintain peace for as long as he could. Even before he became the leaders for the Senjus, he worked tirelessly with Hiruzen to end the last war."

Itachi hummed in agreement. "It's as I thought."

Shifting through a stack of papers, Itachi pulled a packet out of the stack, tossing it over to Kakashi. Kakashi caught it, the title of the document catching his eye.

_Peace treaty._

While Kakashi skimmed the contents of the treaty, Itachi unravelled a scroll, spreading it out over the length of the coffee table. A map, with the borders of the Uchiha and Senju borders marked in black. Red markings on the map denoted areas of dispute.

Kakashi set the treaty aside.

"They would never agree to these terms," Kakashi told him bluntly. "There is room to negotiate with Minato, but he would never concede to this degree."

"I know, but it is only with those terms that the Uchihas would be satisfied. Otherwise, it will end up like the last treaty. A ceasefire, war would inevitably break out again. Our spy wasn't able to get any information, so I was hoping you are able to enlighten me as to why the Senjus are adamant in fighting for this patch of land."

Kakashi's eyes followed to where Itachi's finger was pointed at. The Land of the Whirlpool, formerly neutral before the village formed an alliance with the Senjus, only to be occupied by the Uchihas in the last war. He was hardly surprised to see that this was the first territory that Sensei would try to take back.

"You know Minato Namikaze's wife is Kushina Uzumaki. The Land of the Whirlpool is home to the Uzumaki clan. Her homeland is important to her."

Itachi stared at him. "You seem to know a lot more than the average person. You were close to Minato?"

He was testing him.

Kakashi didn't falter. "Of course. My father was good friends with Minato."

Itachi abruptly changed the topic. "I'm sure you already heard from Obito that the situation doesn't look too good for us. It's confirmed that the Yellow Flash is out on the battlefield once more, so I already sent Shisui out. We've experienced heavy losses recently so I'm afraid that I will need to send you out earlier than you have anticipated."

"That's fine." It wasn't like Kakashi had anything to stay in the village for.

The thought of his mission floated to the forefront of his mind. He would need to finish his mission before he was sent out again.

Then Itachi asked him to give his report on the last six months at the outpost, which left Kakashi to wonder exactly what Itachi wanted him here for. All of this information was already written in the report that he would submit later today and he was certain that Obito already went over the details once already. Besides, as second in command, Kakashi never reported directly to Itachi.

And everything that he asked, he could easily get answers from someone else. In fact, Kakashi wouldn't be surprised if Itachi already knew the answers to those questions.

Why him?

Two answers came to mind. Neither were desirable.

Kakashi went along with his charade. Although Itachi was discreet, Kakashi's eyes didn't miss the fleeting glances that Itachi shot his way. Each time, Itachi's eyes narrowed before he smoothed out his expression once Kakashi made eye contact with him.

Itachi was studying him, that much was for sure.

"One more thing, I need you to go on a mission tomorrow. Our supplies are waiting for us in Oto. The scroll has all of the details that you need."

Itachi tossed him a scroll. Kakashi caught it one handed, fingers pinched to untie the string around the scroll. Unraveling the scroll, Kakashi briefly skimmed over the mission details: who he was supposed to meet, what items he was supposed to retrieve.

One item caught his eye.

"I have a partner?"

"About half of the supplies are medical items so a medic will go with you to make sure that they have everything they need. You will be responsible for the other things."

"I see. May I be dismissed?"

Itachi nodded. "Report directly to me when you get back."

* * *

"How are you feeling today?"

Toshiro responded with an affirmative. Rin continued to fire off questions regarding his previous symptoms. While he spoke, her pen scratched lightly against the paper attached to a clipboard, jotting down all of his answers.

The antidote seemed to have worked, enabling Toshiro a quick recovery.

"You can be discharged tomorrow morning. I want to monitor your condition for another night, just in case. After all, we were caught off guard once; don't want that to happen again."

Toshiro nodded. "Thank you. How is everyone else?"

"You were the first to exhibit symptoms, so we were able to administer the antidote for everyone else before their conditions became worse."

Even through the thick door, Rin could hear Obito's voice floating into the room from outside. As he approached the room, his voice became clearer, to the point where Rin could make out the conversation between him and someone else.

"Obito is here. I'll leave you to it."

The door clicked open right as Rin stepped away from Toshiro's bedside. She stood off to the side while Obito walked into the room first, followed by Kakashi. Rin made eye contact with Kakashi, the latter tipping his head slightly as a way of greeting.

"Rin!" She tore her eyes away from Kakashi.

Seeing Obito and Kakashi reminded her of something. Turning back to face Toshiro, Rin ordered him to not partake in any strenuous activities.

"That includes training," Rin emphasized, even though she knew the majority of the shinobis don't follow her orders. She especially shot a stern look at Obito. "As commander, you should look out for the wellbeing of your people."

"Hai, hai," Obito lazily replied as he rounded to the other side of the bed. Retrieving the stool tucked in the corner of the room, Obito placed it right next to the bed before plopping down into the seat. "I promise, no training."

Rin took his word for it. Bidding Obito a goodbye and promising to come by to check up on Toshiro's condition before she got off of her shift tonight, Rin exited the room. Flagging down a receptionist, Rin handed the clipboard off to her, instructing her to get the discharge papers ready before tomorrow. The woman nodded before scurrying off.

Kakashi exited the room, approaching her from her left side.

"I never got the chance to properly thank you for giving me a place to stay," Kakashi murmured. "Thank you."

He did. The note that he left already expressed his gratitude, but Rin wasn't going to mention it.

"Don't worry about it. How is the wound healing up?"

"It's alright. Thank you for healing me."

Awkward silence spanned between them when Rin wasn't sure what to say to him after that. Both of them opened their mouths at the same time, their words jumbling together as they spoke on top of one another.

"You should go first."

"I'm going to head back in," Kakashi repeated. The words sounded so stiff coming from his mouth, so he tacked on, "I'll see you around."

Rin nodded. "Yeah, I still have some work to finish. See you around, Kakashi san."

Kakashi headed back into Toshiro's room, while Rin headed down the hall towards her office. Her mind was still spinning from the last conversation with Kakashi.

Third encounter. Still unbearably awkward. She wasn't sure what was wrong, even small talk with her other patients wasn't so painful.

Rin let out a sigh. How was Obito friends with him? They seemed to be the exact opposite in every single way.

Seeing Emi run down the hall straight towards her made Rin snap out of her thoughts. Her mouth opened, ready to scold Emi for running in the hospital when it was strictly prohibited, but she stopped short when Emi shoved a scroll into her hand. Emi was bent over, hands splayed on her thighs as she took a minute to catch her breath. Shooting Emi a questioning look, Rin unraveled the scroll.

A supply collection mission from Oto. Rin had heard of Oto, a small village located three hours from the borders of the Uchiha territory, who had chosen to ally themselves with the Uchiha. She was aware that every once in a while, a medic would be sent out to retrieve the medical supplies, but why was Emi giving this to her?

Emi raised her head, forcing out her words in between her breaths. "Rin san, you have to help me."

"What is wrong with it? This is a perfectly normal mission."

Emi shook her head. "I can't go. My sister is sick so I need to be home in the evening to take care of her."

"Oto isn't located too far from here. You should be back within the day."

"I really can't," Emi insisted. "And I couldn't really refuse Takahiro san when he gave me this mission, but…"

Rin let out a sigh; how could she refuse Emi's pleading look?

"Fine-"

"Thank you so much!" Emi gushed, cutting her off before she could even finish. Before Rin could get another word in, Emi had already rushed off, running back in the direction that she had come from. This time, Rin yelled after her to quit running in the hospital.

Emi slowed to a speed walk. With a sheepish look on her face as she turned around, Emi gave Rin a small wave as she continued down the hall. Rin wanted to tell Emi to watch where she was going, but she was too far and it was too late. The other medic had narrowly swerved the cart to avoid bumping into Emi completely, but the sharp edge had nicked her in the side.

Rin stared at the scroll in her hand.

If she was going to take the mission tomorrow, then she better get to work.

* * *

_Minato sensei,_

_I think they know there is a spy in their midst and I am one of their suspects, so I don't know how long I will be able to continue. Itachi and I conversed earlier; I believe that he wanted me to pass something onto you._

_He wants to seek peace and he is willing to give up their claim on the Land of the Whirlpool as one of the negotiation conditions._

_He also mentioned a spy in your ranks, but I am unsure of the spy's identity._

_After hearing that you were on the battlefield, they have sent Shisui Uchiha out onto the field as well._

_I am being sent on a mission tomorrow to retrieve supplies from Oto. Perhaps you can consider cutting off their source for supplies. In the next day or two, I will send you a map of Oto._

_Sensei, I want the war to end as soon as possible, but I don't know how I am going to complete my mission. The more that I meet her, the more reluctant I am to kill her._

_I know that she has to die._

_I just hate that I have to be the one to do it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> There is probably never going to be a story that I write where Kakashi and Itachi both exists as characters and they don't meet. I swear I'm just going to find some way to make them meet because I love this duo. Their conversation might seem like filler (felt like to me when I was writing it too), but I promise it has a purpose. Just have to read between the lines to figure out what Itachi's plan is. Or wait because it'll all be revealed later in the story.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Until next time.  
> -MM


	12. Moral Dilemma

**Present**

Perhaps in an alternate universe, Kakashi would have liked to believe that his father's name would have been etched on the Senju's equivalent of the memorial stone. Too bad he wasn't living in the other universe.

His father's name wasn't etched on this memorial stone, or any memorial stone, but Kakashi liked to imagine that his father's name was there, located at the end of the list in the fifth column. Four more columns trailed after. In total, the names hardly occupied half of the space on the stone slab.

Just another reminder of how many more names, that didn't belong, could fit on the memorial stone. They belonged in this universe, not merely reduced to a pile of ashes and a name on a stone.

But this was war.

Even though there wasn't a trace of his father's presence anywhere on the Uchiha territory, Kakashi always found the memorial stone to be a good place to speak to his father in absence of access to his actual grave. There wouldn't be any sign from nature that his father had heard him, unlike when Kakashi last visited his grave site, but the memorial stone served to help calm him, clearing his mind of any inner turmoil.

Since arriving at the memorial stone, Kakashi felt a fraction of the heavy weight on his heart lighten.

For the entire hour before he was supposed to leave for his mission, Kakashi simply stood there. Eyes glued to the memorial stone, slowly reading all of the names once, before he allowed himself to stare at the spot where he imagined his father's name to be. Recollections of the conversation with Itachi floated to his mind, but Kakashi shoved those to the back of his mind.

When his troubles and frustrations emerged from the depths of his memories, Kakashi filtered them away, until he was left with an empty mind. A clear mind. A peaceful mind. A natural state that even he couldn't achieve in his sleep, not with his worries plaguing his dreams.

Kakashi wished it could stay like this forever.

The sun was up. Kakashi lazily opened his eyes, holding a hand in front to shield his eyes from the morning rays. With one last glance at the memorial stone, Kakashi turned to leave.

In his haste to arrive at the village gates, Kakashi ended up making it there five minutes earlier than anticipated. He was greeted with an empty site, devoid of any human life except for the guards that hid in the trees outside of the gates. Glancing up at the sky, Kakashi gauged the sun's position and concluded that the medic wasn't late yet. He would wait, but if the medic was late, then he would leave.

Kakashi didn't tolerate tardiness from anyone other than Obito.

Leaning against the wall next to the entrance, Kakashi crossed his arms before tipping his head downwards, closing his eyes. While to anyone who passed by, he might have seemed relaxed, but in reality, he had his senses honed to alert him of changes.

He could feel the steady hum of four different chakra signatures outside of the gates. Two of them were closer to the entrance, while the other two seemed to be at least ten meters further out. A fifth chakra signature appeared, moving rapidly towards the entrance. Kakashi tracked that chakra signature, noting that the fifth person had made contact with the fourth. Judging from the lack of chakra spike, he concluded that the fifth person was a comrade.

Kakashi's eyes snapped open just as the fifth chakra signature emerged from the trees, landing deftly on his feet at the front gates. Walking past him, Kakashi honed in on the red and white symbol stitched at the back of his shirt.

He tipped his head upward, glancing at the sun once more.

Five more minutes.

With the tip of his sandal, he scuffed at the dirt beneath him, absently writing the kanji for "peace" over and over again. His foot paused, halfway through tracing the kanji for the sixth time when he felt a sixth chakra signature.

A familiar chakra signature.

His eyes squinted as he tried to make the figure that was running towards him, but he couldn't see much beyond the silhouette due to the glare of the sun. The figure slowed to a walk as she neared the gates.

Rin.

An unsettling feeling washed over him.

"Sorry I'm late!" Rin fervently apologized once she was within earshot. Stopping right in front of him, Kakashi watched as she slightly keeled over, breathing heavily to catch her breath. Her entire face was flushed red, stray pieces of brown hair sticking to the side of her face.

"You're the medic that's supposed to go with me?"

Rin nodded. "It was supposed to be someone else, but she asked me to go instead. You don't mind, do you?"

An uncomfortable feeling crawled up his spine when he saw that Rin was peering curiously at him.

"Doesn't matter to me. You have everything? The mission scroll?"

Rin nodded, shifting the backpack on her shoulders. Kakashi frowned.

"What are you bringing in that backpack?"

"First aid kit just in case, some food and water, and a lot of storage scrolls."

Kakashi didn't know why, but he felt the urge to laugh at her naivety. Perhaps it had been too long since he had been in the presence of a newbie, that he would find rookie mistakes to be amusing rather than irritating.

His right hand reached into his weapons pouch, rummaging around until his fingers touched the scroll. He pulled it out, laying it in the palm of his hand.

"You know it's a storage scroll, right? You can seal all of the scrolls inside one another."

The bottom of her lip jutted upwards. "I knew that. I just…"

Rin didn't bother to finish the end of her sentence and Kakashi didn't press her any further. Instead he busied himself with untying the kunai holster around his right leg, tugging it free before handing it to Rin.

"We shouldn't meet any trouble along the way, but just in case, you should have some weapons so you can defend yourself. You know how to use a kunai, right?"

Rin stared at the kunai holster for a few moments, before she hesitantly accepted the holster. "If you give me this, then what about you?"

Kakashi shrugged, jutting his head towards the sword strapped on his back. "I'll be fine. Give me your backpack."

Rin lifted her head up, having just finished tying the holster to her leg. While wearing a confused look on her face, Rin did as he asked, shrugging the backpack off of her shoulders before handing it over to him. Kakashi swung it over his shoulders, slightly surprised as it was a bit heavier than he had expected.

"You don't have to bother; I can carry it myself," Rin insisted. Kakashi shot her a skeptical look.

"Sure you can. We have a three hour run before we get to Oto; I don't need you to tire out before then."

With that, Kakashi took off towards the trees. Rin followed. He toned down his pace in the beginning so that Rin wouldn't lag behind, but began to speed up when he felt that she had gotten used to tree hopping.

A blur of green and brown surrounded him. The forest remained relatively quiet save for the sound of the feet making contact with each branch. The travel was so mind numbing that Kakashi could have done it with his eyes closed, so he allowed himself to get lost in his own thoughts.

To sort out the thoughts that had been nagging at him from the moment he realized Rin was the one going on the mission with him. Of all the people, why was it her? A coincidence? Did the reason even matter?

In all of the plans that Kakashi created, killing her on a mission hadn't been one of them, but his other plans were half assed and hardly feasible to begin with. Logically, the mission was the perfect time: they were alone, she was practically defenseless, and no one would notice her missing until tomorrow.

Most importantly, Rin trusted him enough that she was at ease. Her guard was let down. She wouldn't expect it if he suddenly turned around, with a Chidori fired up in his right hand. All he would need was the courage to ram it straight through her heart. Five seconds, that was all it would take.

The Uchiha's most skilled medic would be dead. The Senjus would gain the upper hand. Maybe the war would end sooner.

His fingers twitched.

If he killed her today, someone would notice her missing by tomorrow. Even if he got rid of the body, they would suspect that she was dead. The person who passed her the mission would know that Rin had gone on this mission. They could easily piece together that Kakashi had gone on this mission with her.

He would turn into the biggest suspect.

Either he would have to leave or feign ignorance. If he left, the Senjus would lose an important source of information. As far as he knew, among the spies, he had the highest ranking; therefore, the most valuable information. If he stayed and feigned ignorance, what was the likelihood that they would believe him? Even with all of his feats as a shinobi, he still remained an easy scapegoat without the backbone of an entire clan. Not to mention, Itachi already seemed to be suspicious of him.

Kakashi shook his head. No, no he couldn't kill her just yet. It would be better to wait; he needed Minato sensei's guidance.

Or that was what he convinced himself when he didn't make a move, despite the numerous occasions when her defenses were down.

"You shouldn't let your guard down on a mission." Kakashi wasn't sure what possessed him to make those words come out of his mouth. Rin emitted a noise from the back of her throat, proving that she was just as confused as he was. But since he already started it, Kakashi continued.

"If an enemy were to attack us, you would be dead before you can react. Stay on your guard at all times, even when you think it's safe." Kakashi couldn't see Rin's face, but if he could, he was willing to bet that there was a confused frown on her face.

"This is my first mission," Rin uttered quietly. "So I don't really know the protocol."

"Ever?" Kakashi was in complete disbelief; he figured that she would have been sent to the outposts at some point before he remembered that Obito had once mentioned that she was needed at the hospital.

Rin hummed in confirmation. "I haven't been outside of the village much. They keep me at the hospital."

"Would you rather be at the outposts instead?"

"I don't know. I just feel that I can save more lives if I am out on the field. The time that it takes for someone to get brought back to the village, they're either dead or too far gone to be saved."

"If you don't have field training, it'll be dangerous to go to the outposts. A lot of medics have died in ambushes or if they're out on the field."

Rin stayed quiet for a few moments. "I have been training."

So she wasn't completely defenseless.

When Kakashi turned to look over his shoulder, he noted that Rin was starting to lag behind a bit. He slowed down his pace, allowing her to catch up to him while he searched for a place to stop. Just a bit further ahead, his ears picked up the sound of flowing water. Veering off to the left, Kakashi hopped down from the trees, settling near the river.

"We'll take a break," Kakashi announced, plopping down on the grass. Pulling the backpack off of his shoulders, he unzipped it, rummaged through the contents before his fingers touched the metal flask. Retrieving the item, he tossed it to Rin.

"We don't have to. I can keep going."

Kakashi could hardly take her seriously when Rin was chugging at least half of the water in the container in under half a minute.

"Know your limits. That's the first step to being a shinobi."

Rin rolled her eyes. "Yeah, like any of you listen to avoid strenuous activity after you get discharged from the hospital."

Rin plopped down next to him, crossing her legs. Kakashi tipped his head backwards, taking a large sip from his flask.

"I've been injured enough times to know my limit. As much as I love training, I wouldn't overdo it to the point where I end in the hospital again."

"Maybe you don't, but there's plenty of shinobis who end up there because they don't listen."

Kakashi scoffed. "They're idiots then. Why anyone would voluntarily put themselves in that place is beyond me." Even just thinking about the hospital made him shudder.

"The hospital isn't that bad…" The lack of conviction in her statement only solidified Kakashi's point.

A few moments of silence lapsed between them. Kakashi took two more sips before he screwed the cap back on his flask.

"Eh, Kakashi san, can I ask you a question?"

"Just Kakashi is fine."

Rin nodded, swallowing thickly. "You're not from a clan, right? I'm just curious because I know most of the smaller clans are allied with the Senjus so it's strange that there's someone else like me, much less someone of such high rank."

"Yes. It's a long story, but to put it simply, my family was allied with the Senjus once. They betrayed us, so I left."

"Oh." Rin looked disappointed. "I always thought that the Senjus were nicer. Less strict."

"Why would you think that? You're working for the Uchihas."

"I know, but that's because as far as I remember, I have been with the Uchihas. I guess I wonder what it would be like if I were on the Senju side instead."

Upon seeing Kakashi's skeptical look, Rin began to backtrack. "Not to say that I would betray the Uchihas because I won't. It's just I'm curious what life is like in other places. The books that I read describe all these different landscapes and I just wish that I could see them in person."

"Even when you were younger you never left the village?"

Rin frowned. "I don't really know. My memories of when I was young are kind of hazy."

Hazy? Kakashi wasn't sure what to think of it since he still remembered his childhood with clarity. However, it could be chalked up to the trauma associated with it.

"That's why I've been trying to train. Hopefully, I'll be able to go on more missions then."

"Self taught?"

Rin nodded. "Obito taught me some things too, but he's been away. He was the one who taught me how to throw a kunai and shuriken. I've been reading some theories on ninjutsu and genjutsu. Also been working on my taijutsu but it's hard to improve when I don't have someone to spar with."

"You know how to make a shadow clone?" Rin nodded. "You can spar with your clone if you can't find anyone else."

"I know, but my clone is only as good as I am, so I can't really improve unless I fight against someone stronger than I am."

"I'll train with you." The words left Kakashi's mouth before his brain even had the chance to process what he was offering. His lips parted, on the verge to amend his previous statement, but the words remained lodged in the back of his throat when he saw the hope and joy shimmering in her eyes.

"Really?"

Kakashi forced himself to nod.

A huge smile stretched across her face. "I promise that I'll work really hard!"

"We should get going." Without waiting for Rin's response, Kakashi took off towards the trees. The entire time, he mentally berated himself.

What was wrong with him?

Kakashi was supposed to kill her, not teach her how to defend herself. A small voice in the back of his mind argued that it was an opportunity for him to get closer to her.

_Earn her trust and she'll let down her guard around you,_ the voice argued.

That sounded perfect in theory, but Kakashi was afraid.

Afraid that he would get attached.

* * *

Oto was a small village located three hours south of their border. Located at the heart of the Land of the Grass, Kakashi would have assumed that Oto would be a farming village, taking advantage of its grassy terrain and plentiful rain.

Kakashi was wrong.

Oto seemed to be more like a shinobi village.

The first sign had been when two shinobis met them at the village gates, demanding to know their business in the village. After handing over their mission scrolls, the two guards checked the contents, then eyed them intently as if trying to peer into their soul, before they allowed them into the village.

They tried to be discreet, but Kakashi picked up the faint hum of their chakra signatures as they tailed them through the village. Tugging on Rin's sleeve, Kakashi pulled her closer to him, positioning her so that she was walking slightly in front of him. A look of confusion morphed on her features, but she didn't ask.

He could feel dozens of chakra signatures buzzing around him, far too developed to belong to a civilian.

A shinobi town with an alliance with the Uchihas to the extent of only supply trading? Perhaps they didn't want to get involved in the fighting or...perhaps they were the Uchiha's trump card. A shinobi force that the Senjus wouldn't be expecting.

Kakashi needed to inform Minato sensei.

When the two of them reached the entrance to a cave, a teenage boy stepped in front of the entrance, arms splayed outwards.

His eyes narrowed. "What's your business here?"

Kakashi grabbed the mission scroll from his weapons pouch, tossing it to the silver haired boy. The boy caught it, eyes skimming through its contents. Once he had finished, the boy's hand moved to push the bridge of his glasses upwards.

"Follow me. I'll take you to Orochimaru sama."

Orochimaru…that was a familiar name. If his memory served to be correct, then Orochimaru was one of three legendary shinobis, earning his fame from a display of his prowess on the battlefield in one of the previous wars. That had been when he was still loyal to the Senjus. No one really knew what had happened to him in the recent decade, but Kakashi hadn't expected to see him here.

Now working for the other side.

Kakashi was vaguely aware that the boy was leading them on a long, roundabout path to meet Orochimaru, but he didn't comment on it. Instead, he pretended to be completely oblivious as he followed him, passing by the same door for the third time. Although the entire structure of the layout was mirrors of itself, Kakashi knew. There was a nick on the door, in the upper right corner. Barely noticeable.

The end of the third loop led them to a plain looking door, a carbon copy of all of the others that they had passed. The boy knocked twice.

"Guests from the Uchihas are here to retrieve the supplies, Orochimaru sama."

The door swung open, revealing a pale man with long, dark hair with piercing, yellow eyes. He looked eerily...like a snake.

"Kabuto, take the medic to get the medical supplies. The other, come with me."

Separating wasn't in the plans, but Kakashi could do nothing more than watch as Rin followed Kabuto down a separate hallway, the shadows obscuring their presence. He followed Orochimaru, who had proceeded to walk in the opposite direction.

The entire trip was silent. Orochimaru continued to speed up his pace, almost like he was in a hurry to finish. They stopped in front of another plain looking door. Orochimaru grasped the handle, pushing down on it before he swung the door open.

His yellow eyes slid to meet Kakashi's gaze. A sinister smile formed on his face, tongue extending outward to lick his bottom lip.

"Please." Orochimaru bowed slightly, a finger pointing in the direction of the room. Kakashi walked inside, feeling a chill wrack his body as he passed by Orochimaru. Goosebumps formed all along the length of his arm.

"This should be everything. Twenty minutes and I'll come get you."

The door slammed loudly behind him.

Kakashi moved to grab his storage scroll when his fingers brushed against the bottom of Rin's backpack. Rin's backpack. All of her storage scrolls were with him.

Using a kunai, Kakashi nicked the pad of his thumb before he performed the hand sequence, then slammed his hand on the ground. When the smoke cleared, a small pug was sitting in front of him, eyes drooping. Kakashi pulled the backpack off of his shoulders.

"Oi Kakashi." Pakkun dipped his head, sniffing at the backpack.

"Who's the girl?"

"Partner for the mission. I forgot to return her scroll. Can you track her scent and find her?"

Pakkun nodded, opening his mouth to accept the scroll. His teeth clamped down on the scroll, tail wagging as he bounded towards the door. Kakashi opened the door; Pakkun slipped through the crack and disappeared down the hall.

Unzipping Rin's backpack, Kakashi went to work.

* * *

Surprisingly, Kabuto knew a lot more medical knowledge than she had expected. Along the way, Kabuto roped her into a conversation, impressing her with his display of knowledge. Yet Rin found it unsettling that most of Kabuto's inquiries centered around the shut down of a human body. It almost seemed like he was fishing for information on more ways to kill someone.

Maybe he could tell that she was uncomfortable with that particular topic or he had exhausted all of his questions, Kabuto switched to a different topic: poison. It had seemed normal enough, until Rin noticed a glint of interest in his eyes as she described one of the nastiest poisons she had encountered, including foaming at the mouth and the corrosion of all of their internal organs.

Kabuto didn't look much older than sixteen. Why was he so fascinated with death?

Rin didn't want to know.

A wave of relief washed through her when Kabuto finally announced that they had arrived. In the corner of the room, crates of medical supplies were stacked against each other. Rin thanked him for his assistance, hand reaching behind her and grasped air. Eyes wide, Rin glanced over her shoulder.

Her backpack wasn't with her. She had forgotten to get it back from Kakashi.

"Kabuto san, I need to go back. Kakashi has my backpack."

Kabuto frowned. "Well I'm afraid I don't know where Orochimaru sama took him."

Rin sidestepped around Kabuto, stepping outside of the room and ready to take off back in the direction where they had come from when she saw a small pug bounding towards her. The pug stopped at the tip of her feet, mouth opening to deposit a scroll.

"You're Kakashi's teammate, right? He wanted me to deliver this scroll to you."

Rin nodded her thanks, bending down to grab the scroll, still completely in awe that the dog could speak. She was aware that shinobis often had talking summons, but she had never seen one in person. It was so fascinating.

"I see that you got what you needed," Kabuto commented. "Now if you don't mind, I will be working on an experiment while you check the supplies."

Rin nodded, heading to the corner of the room with the dog at her heels. The two of them worked in silence.

Kakashi's summon was content in lying on top of one of the crates, eyes sweeping her every move. Rin hated to admit that she was bothered by a summon, but she wished that the dog would stop looking at her.

Her wish was granted when the summon lost interest in her and decided to observe Kabuto instead.

Kabuto took her back to where she had parted ways with Kakashi once she was finished. The summon had been too lazy to walk on his own and decided to rest on her shoulder on the trip back, but once he spotted Kakashi, he immediately jumped down and moved to his owner's side.

"Tell Itachi that I expect him to fulfill the deal on his end," Orochimaru ordered, directing the statement at Kakashi. He nodded.

Orochimaru's eyes slid onto her. His hand slipped into his pocket, pulling out two vials, one containing liquid of a brownish color, with a purple hue. The other was a yellowish liquid. He handed the vials over to her and Rin accepted them.

"Poison?" Rin questioned.

Orochimaru smirked. "You have a sharp mind. An offering in the hopes that our alliance can continue in the future. If you can figure out the components of the poison, you'll be able to use it against the Senjus. It will certainly catch them off guard."

It would certainly catch them off guard as the components weren't ones that Rin was used to using. The problem was that they didn't even have the components to create the poison in the first place and Orochimaru knew it.

Rin didn't mention it. Instead, she thanked him for the gift.

Kabuto escorted them all the way to the village gates and stood there to watch them leave. She felt infinitely better when she could no longer feel the weight of Kabuto's stare on her back.

"Didn't you find them strange?"

"Orochimaru has always been an eccentric figure," was Kakashi's response.

Rin frowned. "Yeah but why did he give me this poison? I'm almost positive one of the components is snake venom, which we don't have. Only they would have that kind of venom…"

Rin paused as a fleeting thought came to mind. Kakashi glanced over at her.

"You figured it out?"

"Orochimaru...he wants the alliance to be more than just supply trading? Maybe he wants to be involved in the war?"

"Ah. Or he wants the Uchihas to be more dependent upon him, so he has more bargaining power over him. That's not our problem; I'll mention it to Itachi san and see what he says."

Rin didn't know much about this Orochimaru character, but even she had gotten terrible vibes from him. She could almost imagine how uncomfortable she would feel if she had to work with him or Kabuto or any of them.

All of those thoughts were shoved to the back of her mind as Kakashi began to lecture her on the importance of being aware of her surroundings during a mission.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> Fun fact: the mission to Oto wasn't planned in the original draft, but I figured since I gave cameos to Jiraiya and Tsunade, the third of their trio deserves some screentime too lol. And it kind of turned into an important subplot for the future. :)
> 
> Also, sorry that I had to do it: reference how Rin died in canon lol. To be clear, Kakashi doesn't have the Sharingan so he can't effectively use Chidori but he figured that Rin is pretty unaware anyways so he could get away with using his signature jutsu.
> 
> Next 2 chapters will be Kakashi's backstory, the beginning of how Kakashi ended up with the Uchihas. Hope you'll enjoy it.
> 
> Thank you for reading! Until next time.  
> -MM


	13. Simmering Resentment

**Past**

The tingling excitement that lingered in the vicinity of their camp brought a sense of contentment that Sakumo Hatake hadn't felt for a long time.

Victory was on the horizon. And every shinobi knew it too.

Three months of slow, but steady advances beginning from no man's land to steadily encroaching on the Uchiha territory. For all the territory that they lost, they would regain it twofold, thanks to Shikaku's brilliant tactical mind.

Checkmate on Kyoshi Pass, the Uchiha's most fortified outpost. Overtaking the pass would give the Senjus access to the Uchiha's critical supply lines and cut off access for reinforcements to head out to the outposts located on the outer edges of the Uchiha territory. Kyoshi Pass, that was their key to victory and finally end the war for once and for all.

While the rest of the camp celebrated their impending victory, substituting alcohol with canteens of water, Sakumo gazed blissfully at the scene. When the shinobi in the camp began to holler out the things that they were looking forward to doing when they finally went home, Sakumo didn't say anything aloud. Yet his heart knew exactly what he wanted to do.

_Spend more time with Kakashi._

Jiraiya plopped down on the grass next to him, handing him a canteen full of water. Sakumo accepted the canteen with a nod of thanks, sloshing the water around the edges of the container before tipping his head back and taking a large gulp.

"What are you doing here brooding by yourself?" Jiraiya questioned.

"Not brooding," Sakumo corrected. "Just thinking."

Jiraiya nodded in understanding. "About the ambush later tonight? Don't worry about it, the Nara may seem lazy but his strategy is practically foolproof. Take it from a war hawk like me."

Sakumo pressed his lips together, suppressing a laugh. "You make yourself sound so old. You're not that much older than me."

"You're the one that's old," Jiraiya argued. "Having a kid sucks all of the youth out of you."

Sakumo openly laughed, donning a wistful expression. "Yeah, but I wouldn't trade Kakashi for anything else in the world."

"How long has it been since you've seen him?"

"Three months or so." One glance at Sakumo's face told it all, Jiraiya could see the longing in his friend's eyes. His sense of duty was what kept him grounded here.

"Don't worry, he's in good hands," Jiraiya said, in an attempt to placate him. "If Minato doesn't take good care of him, you can always sic Kushina on him." It was Jiraiya who burst out laughing at his own suggestion, much to Sakumo's amusement.

Sakumo's eyes flickered to the setting sun, already so low that it was no longer visible, except for the last rays of sunlight it was emitting.

"Come on," Sakumo said, standing up. Jiraiya quickly sobered up when his tone became serious. "It's time to get ready."

* * *

Darkness swallowed them from all sides. Distinctly, Sakumo was aware the rest of the team that made up the ambush team was hiding several meters behind him, awaiting his signal. He crept forward, his eyes fixated on the flickering tail end of the campfire in the distance.

There was no one in sight, but Sakumo wasn't one to take chances. After all, this was unknown territory; their intelligence had no idea of the scope of the Uchiha surveillance.

Sakumo held a hand up, motioning for his team to wait. He continued forward, masking the sound of his footsteps with the persistent buzzing noise that emitted through the silence.

A rustling noise off to the right caught his attention. Immediately pressing his back against the nearest tree, Sakumo quickly masked his chakra, while his head stretched outwards, trying to get a glimpse at the newcomer.

In the darkness, Sakumo could see nothing.

His fingers still brushed the hilt of his tanto as Sakumo continued to glance around for any sign of life. Perhaps he had been paranoid and it had been a stray animal.

Right as he was about to relax his guard, Sakumo detected a flare of chakra to his left. Pulling out his tanto from its sheath at lightning speed, Sakumo had the tip of the blade jammed under the intruder's throat. The person halted, hands falling limply to his sides. The moonlight gleamed against the shiny metal of the intruder's own tanto.

Sakumo's gaze slid upwards to the person's face.

A boy, who couldn't have been any older than Kakashi, donning features that were typical of the Uchiha clan. The blade dug into his skin, nicking the skin. A trickle of blood streamed down the boy's throat, disappearing into the collar of his shirt.

Sakumo simply stared at the boy, his features illuminated in the moonlight. The cheek fat that the boy hadn't a chance to lose, the startling absence of an Adam's apple at his throat, the tainting innocence that shone in his black eyes.

He wasn't much older than Kakashi.

Sakumo's resolve wavered. An image of Kakashi flashed through his mind. An image of Kakashi, being sent on a simple supplies delivery mission. A supposedly safe mission for shinobis of his age. Of him, running into enemy shinobi and being held at blade point. Of the enemy shinobi, ruthlessly slicing his throat. Of Kakashi's limp and bloodied body as he collapses onto the ground. Of his body, to never be returned.

The boy was someone's son too. Someone would weep for him, weep for another young life lost.

But this was war.

The boy made up Sakumo's mind for him. His moment of hesitation had been enough for the boy to react. Swinging his tanto upwards while he backed up, his tanto came up just in time to block Sakumo's tanto. By the time Sakumo had gathered his wits to react to the sudden move, the boy had already hastily retreated, flickering out of sight.

Teleportation…

Sakumo ears picked up on footsteps against the soft grass. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the outline of Arata's familiar silhouette.

"I felt a burst of chakra," Arata whispered frantically. "What happened?"

Sakumo was grateful that Arata wouldn't be able to see the guilt written all over his face in the darkness. "A scout. He got away."

"He got away?" Arata hissed. "Why didn't you kill him?"

In all honesty, Sakumo didn't have a good enough explanation for him. "We should retreat."

"What? No," Arata insisted. His expression hardened. "The plan will continue."

"The Uchiha is aware of our presence," Sakumo shot back. "We will lose the element of surprise for an ambush. If we go charging in there right now, we'll die!"

Jiraiya had said Shikaku's plan was practically foolproof, yet Sakumo was sure that Shikaku hadn't planned for Sakumo to mess up and allow a scout to get away.

"This is our chance to end the damned war. If you won't make the call, then I will!" Arata didn't even wait to hear Sakumo's response. He stormed back to where the rest of the team was waiting.

While Sakumo fumbled around in his weapons pouch to send a signal to Jiraiya to stop the plan, it was too late. He felt his heart drop when he saw the flare go into the night sky, the agreed upon signal for the plan to commence. It felt like he was watching in slow motion as he watched Arata give the signal, two fingers pointing towards the direction of the camp, to proceed.

His entire team poured out from the bushes, leaping across the grass towards the Uchiha outpost. Sakumo wanted to yell at them to stand back, but he found the words were stuck in the back of his throat.

Holding his blade firmly in his right hand, Sakumo darted out from his hiding position, running to catch up to the rest of his team.

His entire being was filled with dread as he registered a group of Uchihas, waiting for them. By the time that Arata had given the command to halt, it had been too late. The Uchiha finished the last seal to their trademark technique, the fireball jutsu.

Sakumo ducked out of the way, grabbing two of his comrades by the collar of their shirt along with him. Beads of sweat formed all along his forehead from the intensity of the heat. The three of them tumbled into the grass, but Sakumo was on his feet a second later, tanto raised to block the kunai from the enemy Uchiha.

The redness of the Sharingan pierced the darkness, its tomoe spinning relentlessly as Sakumo continued to exchange blows with him.

By the time Sakumo had killed the fifth enemy shinobi, his eyes briefly flickered around the battlefield, surveying the damage. They had lost just as many shinobis as they did, if not more. Sakumo was forced to jerk his eyes away as a sixth enemy shinobi found him and engaged in battle.

Sakumo was forced to back up, even at some point almost tripping over a body, but he saved himself by ducking to the side at the last minute, rolling on the grass before picking himself back up. Sending a fireball jutsu in the enemy's direction, Sakumo tore off across the field, ready to dive in to help his surrounded comrades.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sakumo spotted the boy. He stood still; his black eyes fixated on the body that laid at his feet. A lone tear slid down his cheek, followed by multiple drops. His black eyes bled red, the three tomoes spinning rapidly, forming into a pinwheel pattern, in the shape of a shuriken.

The boy looked up, staring right at Sakumo.

In the next second, the boy had tore his eyes away from Sakumo, teleported a few meters across the battlefield and jammed his tanto into the backside of one of Sakumo's unsuspecting comrades. Blood spilt on his hands. The boy hardly batted an eye as he yanked the tanto out of the man's torso, letting him fall to his feet.

Sakumo had made a grave mistake.

He wasn't a boy. He was a soldier.

The ambush had failed.

* * *

Kakashi was ten years old, but he wasn't a fool. When he had gotten back from a week long supply delivery mission, he had taken towards the rooftops to Hiruzen sama's office. It was when his feet touched down at the front door did Kakashi notice something was wrong.

It first started with the guard at the front door, exchanging glances with the other. When Kakashi attempted to make eye contact, the first guard quickly averted his gaze.

On his way to the office, Kakashi passed by two older shinobis. Although he didn't recognize them, he gave them a nod out of courtesy. The female returned the greeting although there was hesitation in her movements, while her male companion pretended to not see him. Once they were further away, Kakashi at the front of Hiruzen's office and the two shinobis at the end of the hall, he could hear their whispers.

The pair exited the building before Kakashi was able to make out a single word.

Two knocks on the door, permission was granted to enter the room. Kakashi bowed in respect, before he left his mission report on Hiruzen's desk. The entire encounter proceeded as normal, except for the pensive look on Hiruzen's face.

Kakashi felt like it wasn't his place to pry and quietly left.

He wasn't in the mood to deal with villagers' gossip, so Kakashi took towards the rooftops once more.

At his front door, Kakashi felt a familiar flicker of his father's chakra inside the house. His mood was lifted as Kakashi quickly slid the front door open, stepping out of his shinobi sandals. He arranged them neatly by the door before he padded lightly across the wooden floor, to his father's bedroom.

Perhaps that was why there had been whispers; they knew his father had come back after so many months on the battlefield.

Sakumo's door was slightly ajar, highly uncharacteristic of his father. Frowning, Kakashi approached his father's room, knocking lightly on the door. He received no response. Pressing his hand against the door, he pushed the door open lightly. The creak permeated through the silence.

His father was lying flat on his back on the bed, with fingers locked together, hands placed behind the back of his head. His eyes were wide open, staring blankly up at the ceiling. The ends of his feet dangled off of the bed. A blanket had been haphazardly pulled over his body, covering only his stomach.

"Tou san?"

There was no response. Kakashi crossed the distance between the door to his father's bedside. He leaned over his father, face blocking Sakumo's view of the ceiling. Sakumo blinked.

"Kakashi," Sakumo murmured. "You're back."

Kakashi removed his face from his father's view, flipping his body around so that he sat on the edge of his father's bed.

"I should be saying that," Kakashi said, a bit petulant. How long had it been since he last saw his father? Kakashi had begun to lose count of the days.

"Forgive me." The apathy in his voice had been concerning, even more so than the half hearted request.

"What's wrong?" Kakashi demanded.

"It's nothing. I'm just tired. Let me be alone for a little while, will you?"

As the last two members of the Hatake clan, the two of them had no other family other than themselves. That meant Kakashi had seen his father in all sorts of states of mind, including when he was boned tired.

Sakumo was certainly not tired. It was something else, something that he had never seen before, but Kakashi heeded to his father's request anyways and quietly exited the room. Perhaps, in a couple of hours, his father would be better.

Kakashi didn't count on it however.

He left the house once more, with a couple destinations in mind. The first had been the local bookstore, but the man Kakashi wanted to see wasn't present, so he moved on to the bathhouses, where Jiraiya was notoriously known for being present to peek at women. The entire vicinity was devoid of the Toad Sannin.

Puzzled, Kakashi wandered back to town, perhaps just foolishly hoping he would somehow run into Jiraiya. As he wandered down the street, the stares, the whispers, the pointing became so noticeable that even a civilian would have to be blind to not pick up on it. At this point, he was convinced that something was thoroughly wrong, but Kakashi hadn't been able to make out anything substantial other than the fact that it had to do with his father.

Then he spotted him, Arata Sarutobi, a frequent teammate of his father's. At the same time, Arata broke away from the conversation with the Yamanaka besides him, who had pointed in his direction. Kakashi didn't shy away from his staredown; in fact, he held his gaze until Arata crossed the distance between the two of them. The Yamanaka had followed, but lingered slightly behind.

Arata gripped the front of Kakashi's shirt, lifting him so that his feet no longer touched the ground. Over Arata's shoulder, Kakashi could see that the Yamanaka was conflicted; he had reached out to stop Arata but eventually retracted his hand.

Arata and Kakashi were eye level.

"Listen here brat, tell that disgrace of your father to go to hell!" Arata spat in his face. The cloth of his mask soaked up the spit. Arata released him; Kakashi landed nimbly on his feet.

"You can go tell him yourself," Kakashi replied evenly. "I'm not your messenger." Kakashi didn't ask what his father did; he wanted to hear from his father, himself. He turned to leave.

"Do you know what your father did?" Arata called after him. His footsteps halted. Kakashi slowly turned around, facing Arata and the Yamanaka once more.

"Should I?" Kakashi questioned, a lilt of challenge in his voice.

Arata scoffed. "Of course you should. We could have won the war if it wasn't for his mistake. You know, he took pity on an enemy and allowed him to escape and inform the Uchiha camp that we were coming. It's all his fault that we weren't able to take the outpost. It's his fault that we lost half of our squad! Sakumo wasn't worthy to be a captain, what an utter disgrace to the Senju army!"

This time the Yamanaka didn't hesitate in putting a hand on Arata's shoulder, reining him in a bit. Kakashi didn't pick up on what the Yamanaka said to Arata, but it somehow loosened some of the tension in his shoulders.

"Your father has too much of a bleeding heart," Arata said, this time more calmly. "If you know what's good for you, you'll learn from his mistakes."

"I'm sure he had his reasons," Kakashi murmured, as his mind whirled as it tried to comprehend what Arata had just said. There was no reason for Arata to lie on the matter, but Kakashi had trouble coming up with a plausible explanation for why his father had let the enemy go.

Arata scoffed. "His reasons, sure. What reason could he possibly have to let an informant get away and alert the Uchihas of an impending ambush? And can you believe he tried to get us to retreat, as if this wasn't the best chance we had to end the war in so many years?"

"He had his reasons," Kakashi repeated. He turned away, leaving the scene before Arata could say something else to convince him otherwise. At this point, Kakashi was torn in whether to wholeheartedly believe in his father or Arata's recount of the event.

And suddenly, it dawned on Kakashi what was wrong with his father.

He was wallowing in guilt. And that image was branded perpetually in Kakashi's mind.

Kakashi hurried down the street, trying his best to block out everyone else, yet the incessant whispering, the glares, the stares, the pointing, the accusatory looks, the pained looks was quickly overwhelming him. He could hardly breathe under the weight of their condemnation.

When Kakashi saw the disapproving look on his father's favorite shopkeeper's face, that had been the last straw. Kakashi turned sharply, down a narrow alleyway and scaled the side of the building in a matter of seconds. Once on the rooftops, he leapt from rooftop to rooftop, letting the gust of the wind sweep his tears away.

Aside from the tears, Kakashi tried to put up an impassive front, yet turmoil wracked him from the inside. Arata's words replayed in his mind like a broken tape record and each time he heard the echo of the word "disgrace," his heart clenched, a fresh wave of tears brimmed in his eyes, and something was lodged in the back of his throat: an explanation to defend his father that didn't exist.

Kakashi found solace in his favorite hiding spot, in the tree that stood tall in front of the Academy. From his vantage point, he could see the young kids doing target practice or running through the Academy style katas. Somehow, that always seemed to calm him; in the few hours that Kakashi watched, the tears slowly ebbed away, the turmoil in his mind faded away. Perhaps, it was their innocence.

The kids wouldn't attack him for his father's wrongdoing.

Even when the kids were long gone after the Academy was let out for the day, Kakashi continued to linger in the tree, staring absently out into the distance. He barely moved when a figure landed on the branch next to him.

"Figures you would be here."

"Sensei," Kakashi greeted. He shifted his body so that he could face Minato. "Why?"

Kakashi didn't even know what he was asking the question for. Why was his sensei here? Why did the entire village hate his father so much? Why had his father let the enemy get away? Why was there war in the first place?

"I was worried about you," Minato confessed. "Jiraiya told me the entire story and after hearing some of the things going around in the village…"

"I'm okay."

"You don't have to pretend to be strong and lie to me," Minato pleaded. "It's okay if you're hurt."

"I don't know what I'm feeling." And that was the truth; his emotions were all over the place. "Is it true? Did he do it?"

A flash of sympathy crossed Minato's face before he nodded. Kakashi turned away, staring down at the ground.

"I see."

"Talk to me, Kakashi. It's not good to keep your feelings bottled up inside."

"I'm okay. You should be more concerned about my father."

Minato brushed aside his deflection. "Jiraiya is with him right now. If there's anyone who can talk some sense into him, it'll be him. I'm more concerned about you, right now. Have the villagers been giving you any trouble?"

"Nothing that I can't handle."

"You would tell me if it gets too much, right?"

"Yes."

Minato sighed. "I know you're not too good at expressing your feelings, but if you ever need anyone, I'm here for you, alright?"

"I know. Thank you, Minato sensei."

"Tell me, how are you feeling right now?"

He knew if he continued to refuse to say anything, his sensei would persist with his questioning, so Kakashi threw out a response just to satisfy him. "Confused."

"I'm sure Sakumo san had his reasons," Minato tried to placate him.

Kakashi hummed in agreement. At least someone else seemed to agree with him.

"Except in every logical scenario I can come up with, he would have killed him."

"Kakashi…"

"Minato sensei, really, I'm fine. I just need some time to process this." Funny, how his father had said the same thing to get rid of him. With that, Kakashi flash stepped away from the area and headed off to somewhere where his sensei wouldn't think of to search for him.

He just needed time to process this. He was fine. His father would be fine. The anger will diminish as more time passes. This was temporary.

Everything was fine.

Or so he deluded himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> Fun fact: I originally wanted to mirror canon and create a situation where Sakumo chooses his friends over the mission/war, but then I thought about tackling it from a different angle - a father's love for his son. I'm uncertain if it was plausible enough to justify why Sakumo would make that mistake (considering he is a seasoned shinobi), so let me know your thoughts.
> 
> Also as far as I'm aware, it was never really shown in canon whether the villager's condemnation of Sakumo extended to Kakashi, so I made my own assumptions that they would also scorn Kakashi by association.
> 
> Not sure if it was super clear, but the boy that Sakumo spared was Shisui! I tried to hint at it by saying he was an Uchiha and mentioning the teleportation and also there was a tiny scene in there where Shisui unlocks the Mangekyo Sharingan. The entire story would have turned out quite different if he wasn't spared. :)
> 
> Thank you for reading! Until next time.   
> -MM


	14. The Decision

**Past**

Two months later, the war ended.

The occasion was marked by Hiruzen's retirement and the instatement of the fourth leader of the Senju force: Minato Namikaze.

Kakashi supposed that the rumors he had heard so long ago from Asuma weren't all that far fetched after all.

It seemed as if the entirety of the village had turned up to watch his sensei's coronation ceremony, civilians and shinobis alike. Shinobis, mostly out of respect and awe of Minato's prowess on the battlefield. Civilians, from hearing the stories and painting him as one of the heros who ended the almost decade long war.

Peace, such a foreign concept for the younger generation, but was thoroughly welcomed among all generations.

Even amidst a sea of people, Kakashi felt utterly alone. Even if the entire village had turned up for the ceremony, one of the few people Kakashi cared about didn't.

His father's absence wasn't a strange feeling; it had occurred so frequently that it was a normality for Kakashi, yet the excuse of war was no longer viable.

If it wasn't for the fact that Kakashi knew that his sensei would want him there, Kakashi wouldn't have bothered to have shown up at all. Yet as he stood rigidly in his spot while he waited for the ceremony to begin, his dark eyes couldn't help but sweep over his surroundings.

People, of all ages, clustered together. Some were families, some were Academy classmates, some were teammates, some were friends, some were comrades from the battlefields…

He had no one. That was, until Asuma found his way to Kakashi's side and tugged him along to join a group of his peers. Kakashi vaguely recognized them from the Academy, but having spent only a year in the Academy didn't afford him much time to become acquaintances with any of them.

His shoulders were hunched as he shoved his hands into his pockets, standing rigidly behind Asuma. From the moment that he had returned with Kakashi in tow, Asuma had easily jumped into the conversation between Raidou and Genma, who had been engaged in a heated debate, tossing out various speculations on how the war had ended.

It wasn't a strange topic for conversation. Just last month, the war seemed to be going strong, perhaps even intensified following the botched ambush at Kyoshi Pass.

Kakashi could tell they were holding back; Genma and Raidou kept shooting furtive glances in his direction. All three of them were deliberately skirting the topic of the failed ambush mission.

Even two months later, the incident was still fresh on everyone's mind. For Sakumo, it was the neverending guilt and remorse that haunted him continually, day and night. For Kakashi, it was seeing his father spiraling down the path of no return, hardly a shadow of his former glory. For others, it was constantly hearing the incident on the shinobi's lips.

"Hey, so your sensei is going to be the next leader," Genma said, completely changing topics. Kakashi's head snapped upwards when it registered in his mind that Genma had been addressing him. "How do you feel?"

"Proud," Kakashi murmured. "It has always been sensei's dream." And Kakashi really was proud of his sensei, even if he couldn't seem to muster up a single ounce of happiness.

"How did you do it? My old man always said that Minato san had no intention of taking on any students, yet he seemed to take a liking to you."

"Tou san and sensei are friends," Kakashi absently responded, not missing the way he almost choked over the mention of his father. The slightly alarmed expression on Raidou's face, the way Genma averted his eyes, and Asuma's awkward clearing of his throat made it abundantly clear that all three were uncomfortable in giving a response to that.

Minato had chosen that time to make his appearance, saving the three of them from having to continue down the awkward train of conversation.

Cheers erupted from all sides as the lanky man approached, donning a cloak over his traditional battle gear along with a triangle shaped hat with the kanji for Senju etched upon the very tip. If it was even possible, the cheers became even louder when Minato lifted the hat off of his head, revealing the bright smile stretched across his face. Kakashi didn't join in the cheers or the applause, but a warm feeling welled up in his chest as he watched his sensei deliver his speech so effortlessly.

Minato Namikaze had won over the entire village.

Minato marked the end of the ceremony by bowing to the entire village, with promises of maintaining peace for as long as he could. Then he turned, the tail end of his cloak fluttering into the wind as he walked away from the ledge of the roof and to where Kushina was waiting, tears brimming in the corner of her eyes.

Hiruzen watched fondly as Minato engulfed Kushina in a hug, the latter muttering all sorts of congrats for achieving his childhood dream.

The future had never seemed brighter.

* * *

The entire house was engulfed in darkness when Kakashi arrived home following the end of the ceremony. The celebration party was happening now, with only Minato's closest friends in attendance. Kakashi had been invited and initially he had no interest in going, but had ultimately been guilted by Kushina into attending.

But first, he wanted to check on his father.

Kakashi didn't bother to flick on the light in the living room; he knew his father would be in his bedroom. His bare feet padded quietly across the wooden floor on his way to his father's room, only to stop short when he saw a glimpse of silver hair in the kitchen.

He whirled his head around to see his father slumped over the kitchen table, swirling the contents of a glass of water in his right hand. His dark eyes seemed to be completely fixated on the movement of the liquid sloshing in the container.

Sakumo didn't even look up as Kakashi slid into the seat across from him.

"The war is over."

Sakumo hummed in response.

"The ceremony for Minato sensei was today. I thought you would have gone."

"Give your sensei my regards," Sakumo murmured, so quietly that Kakashi had to strain to make out the words. "It would have been better if I didn't appear and ruin the mood."

Kakashi wanted to argue that it wouldn't have, but flashes of the villager's treatment towards him appeared in his mind. Even the few times that Sakumo had left the house, going to lengths to take the lengthier back roads, the encounters had ended so badly each time. Kakashi wouldn't have put it past them to have another go at his father, despite the occasion.

Even with the conclusion of the war, the simmering resentment towards his father still persisted.

"Are you hungry?"

"No. I just needed some fresh air."

Kakashi didn't bother to point out that going outside would have been better. At least willingly leaving his room for a longer period of time was a start, considering it had been a month and a half since his father had gotten any sunlight.

This was a start.

Though normally he wasn't a verbose person, Kakashi began to describe the entire ceremony to fill the silence. When he spotted his father's lips curling up into a small smile, it encouraged him to continue with the story, before moving on to recalling the moment that his sensei told Kakashi the news when he first found out.

"Isn't there a celebration happening?" That question had caught Kakashi by surprise, but he quickly recovered from his shock.

It was the first time in a long time that his father would say something without being prompted to. In fact, he even seemed more attentive to what Kakashi was saying today. Perhaps, the end of the war had helped to alleviate some of the burden and guilt.

"Yes."

"Why aren't you there?" Sakumo questioned.

"I wanted to check up on you first," Kakashi confessed.

Sakumo lazily waved his hand around in the air. "You don't have to worry about me. I must be a terrible father, making my son worry about me. It should be the other way around."

Kakashi opened his mouth, ready to protest that he hadn't been a terrible father, but Sakumo cut him off.

"Do you hate me?"

There was no hesitation in his response. "No."

Silence lapsed between the two of them for a couple of seconds while Kakashi struggled to find the words to express his true thoughts.

"I still don't understand why you did it," Kakashi began slowly. "But you're only human. Humans make mistakes all the time, so I don't think you should be condemned for it for the rest of your life."

"A grave mistake," Sakumo murmured. "A lot of people would still be alive if it hadn't been for me. If I only had done what I should have done."

"Why?" Such a simple question, one that Kakashi had driven himself crazy trying to find the answer to. And now was his chance to finally get the answer he had been searching for.

For the first time during their conversation, Sakumo looked up, making eye contact with Kakashi. A ghost of a smile graced his lips.

"I love you."

Three simple words sent all of the defenses that Kakashi had erected around his heart crumbling. Tears pricked the corner of his eyes, but he blinked in a couple of times in order to keep the tears at bay.

"The scout...was a young boy. About your age," Sakumo continued. "When I went to kill him...I thought, what if it had been you in that position? I hesitated and he got away."

"Tou san…"

Of all the reasons that Kakashi had come up with, he had never thought it would have been because of him.

Sakumo was eyeing him carefully. "Now shoo and go to the celebration. Today is supposed to be a happy day for you. You're not supposed to be crying."

Kakashi laughed, furiously brushing away the tears. His father wasn't the legendary White Fang for nothing; of course he would notice the tears that he tried to hide.

"Are you sure?"

Sakumo nodded. "I'll be here when you get back."

Kakashi left the house, feeling a lot happier than he had been for the past two months. His father was getting better.

It was a good start.

* * *

Kakashi slight change in demeanor hadn't gone unnoticed by his sensei, who had taken it upon himself to pull Kakashi aside in the middle of his celebration party. Kakashi allowed his sensei to tug him along with his arm, recognizing that Minato was taking him to his bedroom.

After ushering Kakashi inside, Minato pulled the door shut, drowning out the noises of the celebration going on in the living room. While Minato activated the soundproof seals plastered on the walls, Kakashi took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"What is it, Minato sensei?" Kakashi questioned, as his fingers played with the edge of the sheet. Was he going to scold him for arriving halfway through the celebration? Or maybe Minato was angry that Kakashi didn't stick around after the ceremony like he should have? Or-

Minato cut off his train of thought. "I was worried about you because I couldn't find you after the ceremony. I thought maybe something had happened to you."

The blonde haired man let out a tiny sigh along with a small shake of his head. When he lifted his head upwards again, Kakashi could make out the faint smile on his sensei's face. Minato took a seat next to Kakashi, the mattress dipping significantly from his added weight. Kakashi shifted slightly, turning to look at his sensei's blue eyes.

"I'm glad that you're happier now." A mixture of relief, pride, and happiness shone through in Minato's eyes. Kakashi didn't even have to ask how he knew; of course he did, he was their new leader after all. Aside from his father, Minato was possibly the only other person who could read Kakashi like an open book.

"Tou san…" Kakashi began softly, struggling to find the words. "He's getting better."

Minato placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure Sakumo san will get better with time now that the war is over. Kushina will be pleased to hear that. When you think he's up to having visitors again, Kushina and I can come over, if that's alright with you."

Kakashi nodded vigorously. Only five people in the village didn't scorn Sakumo for his actions and Minato and Kushina were two of them. It would do his father some good for him to know that not everyone besides Kakashi hated him.

"I think he would like that," Kakashi murmured. "For the longest time, I thought I was going to lose him. Everything that I tried to get through to him, tou san wouldn't respond and I just thought…"

Minato ruffled his hair. "You did well, Kakashi."

"You should get back to the celebration before anyone notices that you are missing. I don't want to be the reason why you're missing out. I'm okay sensei, honestly."

Minato chuckled. "Ah, talking to you allowed me to get away from a bit. The entire thing has seemed so surreal, maybe I'm still dreaming."

"It's not a surprise that you became the fourth leader," Kakashi pointed out. "I've heard the rumors since I was five. Dreams do become reality."

"Ah well, I suppose you're right."

The two of them sat side by side for the next half an hour, falling into their normal dynamic once more. Usually that consisted of Minato rambling on about something, possibly another one of his long winded jutsu explanations, while Kakashi just listened, reacting in appropriate intervals to show that he was still listening.

Today, Minato was describing his dream. His dream of creating an unified village, where the Senjus and the Uchihas peacefully coexisted. His dream of being able to look out of the window and see children playing together, with no divide as a Senju or Uchiha. His dream of having two children who would grow up in an era of peace and teaching them the Rasengan and Hiraishin and then retiring and handing it off to the next generation.

It was a good dream, Kakashi would admit, as he often wondered himself what was keeping them divided. The war may have had a purpose once upon a time, yet as time passed, the real purpose had waned. It seemed that they fought for the sake of fighting, simply because that was what they had always done. They were raised to hate the Uchiha clan and their associated allies, simply because that was what they knew.

But why?

"Sensei, why were we even fighting in the first place?"

They knew how they were going to fight the Uchihas, they knew where they were going to fight the Uchihas, they knew when they were going to fight the Uchihas, but nobody knew why.

Even Minato didn't have an idea and told Kakashi as such.

"And that is why I will resolve to maintain peace for as long as possible," Minato vowed. "We've already sacrificed so much to achieve peace in the first place...it's our job to preserve it."

"And if war breaks out again?"

Minato's expression darkened. "Then we will do anything to achieve it again. For the sake of the future generation."

"For the sake of the future generation," Kakashi echoed.

Those words would resound with him for the rest of his life.

* * *

The first thing he noticed was the insults written on the front wall of their house. Big, red kanji, once again condemning his father for his mistake.

Coward. Traitor. Disgrace.

Among them, Kakashi's eyes were fixated on one particular line.

_Go kill yourself._

Just below the angrily scrawled kanji, there was a huge splot of red paint, like the person had sloshed the paint in a fit of frustration. Bits of paint slid down from the splash, leaving behind multiple trail marks. The paint had long dried at that point.

The second thing he noticed was how much the smell of paint irritated his sensitive nose and for once, Kakashi was grateful that he was wearing his mask. Yet beyond the paint, Kakashi's nose picked up another scent, one that he couldn't quite place with the overwhelming smell of paint screwing up his senses.

Then it dawned on him. _Tou san! I have to see if he's alright._

Inwardly, Kakashi hoped that the villagers hadn't done anything other than leave spiteful messages on his wall, but knowing them, it certainly couldn't be the only thing they did. Kakashi could already imagine it, the name calling, the taunting, the insults as they ruined the exterior of the house.

And in his father's emotionally fragile state…

Kakashi brushed aside all of the negative thoughts as he stepped around a drying puddle of paint on his front porch. Unlocking the front door, Kakashi slipped inside, quickly shutting it as a precaution.

Kakashi didn't want his father to see what had happened outside, in the rare chance that Sakumo hadn't been aware of it.

This time, Kakashi flicked on the light, allowing the light to chase away the darkness in the living room. He half expected to see his father still sitting at the kitchen counter, with a small smile on his face, but was greeted with the sight of an empty stool.

His father must have been in his room then. Kakashi mentally consoled himself that it was okay if Sakumo reverted back to his previous state as long as he was okay. Everything else, they could take one step at a time. After all, Kakashi was barely ten years old...he still had a lifetime to spend with his father...he still had a lifetime to get his father back to normal...he still had a lifetime to ease his father's self guilt.

In the hallway, his nose picked up a tangy metallic smell. Almost like...blood.

Kakashi's eyes widened as he ran down the hallway, to his father's bedroom door. The scent of blood hit him even stronger the closer he got. All sorts of things ran through Kakashi's mind at the moment, so jumbled and disarrayed that Kakashi could hardly make sense of it. Yet there was one lone thought that stood out.

_Please be okay._

Kakashi pushed the door open.

A rush of emotions hit him like a train wreck: disbelief, anguish, anger, guilt, fright, sorrow, heartbroken.

Sakumo was lying face down on the floor; his entire body soaked in his pool of blood. His right arm was outstretched, lying not too far from it was his Chakra Sabre, Sakumo's prized tanto that he promised to one day pass onto Kakashi. Dried blood was caked all along the length of the tanto, marring its once shiny appearance. The tip of Sakumo's silver hair had been tainted red.

Two words were written on the floorboard with his blood.

_I'm sorry._

Kakashi gently picked up the tanto, absently staring at his fragmented reflection in the blade. He was crying. Tears were dripping down his cheeks at an alarming rate and for once, Kakashi didn't care that he was crying. He didn't move to hastily wipe it away.

What was the point? It wasn't like there was anyone there to see.

Angrily, Kakashi flung the blade across the room. He heard the tanto hit the wall, then land on the floor, but Kakashi wasn't focused on that. With his sandal that Kakashi had forgotten to remove in his haste, he began to scrub against the floor with the sole of his sandal.

_I don't want your stupid apology! I want you alive!_

His attempts did little to disguise the last note that his father left him; he only succeeded in smearing the kanji a bit. It was still there, almost taunting Kakashi that his father thought a simple apology would have fixed everything.

" _I'll be here when you get back."_ Sakumo's words rang through Kakashi's head.

Tears continued to stream down his face as Kakashi sank down onto the floor, landing sharply on his knees. Numbly, Kakashi allowed his legs to buckle underneath him, sending him sprawling against the floor. He laid on his side, his dead father's body in his direct line of sight.

_Tou san lied to me. He said he'll be here when I come back._

His mind flashed back to the elated feeling that welled up inside his chest when he realized that his father was actually being responsive to him. When he realized that his father had loved him and that it had been all because of him that Sakumo had done what he did. When Sakumo finally began acting like a father again…

And now he was dead.

_I should have never left; I would have been able to stop him._

_It was the villagers. He was getting better; their comments must have tipped him over his breaking point._

_It's my fault. It's all their fault. It's my fault. It's all their fault. It's my fault. It's all their fault._

It had been the next morning and Kakashi hadn't shown up for their training session. Minato found Kakashi lying on the floor, curled up in a small ball, staring listlessly at his father's rotting body, muttering the mantra over and over again. Minato's heart ached for the young boy. He reached out to pull Kakashi into a tight hug, which the boy hadn't put up a fight. Instead, his body laid limply in Minato's hold as he continued to mutter, "It's my fault. It's all their fault."

Minato didn't have to guess who Kakashi was referring to. He had seen the comments painted on the walls.

"It's not your fault, Kakashi," Minato murmured.

"He loved me."

"I know he did."

"He loved me," Kakashi repeated once more. "It was because of me. It's all my fault."

Kakashi's mutterings didn't make much sense to Minato. All he could do was hold him while Kakashi inwardly cried. He knew the boy was hurting, probably ten times more than Minato felt upon finding his former captain dead.

Minato didn't know how to help him.

* * *

The funeral was supposed to be a quiet affair with just the four of them in attendance, as Jiraiya was nowhere to be found. Kushina latched on tightly to Minato as the pair gazed down at Sakumo's headstone. Hiruzen stood off to the side, giving the pair and Kakashi just enough space and silently paid his respects to the renowned shinobi.

Somehow, the word had gotten around and Minato was filled with dread when he saw Arata approaching, along with a couple of other shinobis that Minato didn't recognize. He spotted Hiruzen shooting Arata a disapproving glare, but Arata seemed to brush it off completely.

Kushina wanted to say something to Arata, but Minato held her back, murmuring that this wasn't the time or the place to cause a scene. That made Kushina settle down a bit, but Minato shuddered at the vicious glares that Kushina shot at the group.

Arata approached Kakashi. Kakashi didn't acknowledge his presence. Arata circled around Kakashi, eyeing the boy up and down menacingly. Arata's eyes flickered to Sakumo's grave and he emitted a short bark of laughter.

"Disgraces like him don't deserve a funeral service," Arata hissed, turning to spit on Sakumo's grave. Minato flinched at the action, tightening his hold on Kushina as he felt her anger spike. Worriedly, Minato glanced over at Kakashi, but his eyes remained downcasted at his father's grave.

It was like Arata didn't even exist for Kakashi, but Minato knew that Kakashi was bound to blow up sooner or later.

"Why are you mourning him? You'll be better off now that he's dead."

Still no response.

"And did you know how pathetic your father was when we went to trash his house the other day? Telling us to go away before you came back and to leave you alone. Too bad he condemned the entire Hatake name. You'll go down as a disgrace like him."

Arata glanced at his friends for supporting, inciting them to add in their own comments to the mix.

Kakashi murmured something, but it had been too low for Arata to catch. Arata goaded him on, inciting him to speak up.

"It's all your fault." Four words punctuated through the thick tension. Kakashi's gaze swung upwards to meet Arata's.

A chill ran down Arata's spine as he stared into the boy's frighteningly cold and empty eyes. Instinctively, Arata took a step backwards. The rest of Arata's friends seemed to have the sense to inch away too, bit by bit, ready to flee at any moment.

"No, it's his fault for failing the mission…" All of Arata's previous confidence had evaporated and Kushina relished in the slight quiver in his voice.

"You'll pay the price."

Minato knew Kushina was inwardly cheering on Kakashi for scaring them to the point where they practically fled from the scene, yet his worries amplified. These words shouldn't have been coming out of Kakashi's mouth; they didn't belong there.

Even after Arata and his crew had left, Kakashi wouldn't budge no matter how many times Minato coaxed him to leave.

"I just want some time alone, Sensei," Kakashi murmured.

Minato let him be, mentally crafting his argument to persuade Kakashi to come live with him for the time being. He would come back later, when it got dark.

Four hours later, Kakashi was nowhere to be found.

He was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> This one is in my top 3 of the hardest chapters I have written. I tried my best to capture Kakashi's emotions, so hopefully that didn't fall too flat.
> 
> At this point, we are more than halfway done with the story. The following chapters will ramp up, a little action, a little suspense, and a little thrill all mixed together. I hope you guys are enjoying this story as much as I had fun creating it.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Until next time.  
> -MM


	15. Precarious Boundaries

**Present**

Itachi wasn't the careless type, so Kakashi was thoroughly surprised to find the door of his office left ajar while the man in question was nowhere to be seen. Feeling for the chakra signatures around him, he picked up Itachi's signature located down the hall, thereby banishing all of Kakashi's thoughts of rummaging through Itachi's office. Even if he did decide to go through with it, there was no way that he would get away without raising even more alarms. With his Sharingan, Itachi would certainly know if a single item was a single millimeter out of place.

Kakashi opted to leave, making a mental note to come back later with his mission report. Making his way down the hall towards the exit, Kakashi immediately squashed his chakra signature when he felt a flare of chakra rising from the room where he had pinpointed Itachi to be. Pressing his back against the wall, Kakashi slowly crept towards that room, eyes sweeping both ways to make sure no one was coming.

With his back pressed against the spot right next to the door, Kakashi could hear voices. One was Itachi's for certain, but Kakashi couldn't quite pinpoint who the other voice was, even if it sounded vaguely familiar.

The chakra spike had settled down, reverting to its normal level.

"We are losing the war," the unknown person hissed angrily. The sound of erratic footsteps floated to Kakashi's ears. "You cannot put off the alliance with Oto any longer. With their added numbers, their assistance will be invaluable to help us turn the war in our favor."

"We cannot form an alliance with Oto. You know Orochimaru is up to no good. If he gets a better offer, he will betray us in a millisecond. We don't need allies who will betray us at a moment's notice."

The other man scoffed. "You know Orochimaru will never work for the Senjus again, so who is there for him to betray us for?"

"He is a snake," Itachi stated firmly. "Who knows what kinds of things will happen if I allow it."

"Then what are you planning to do about the war? At the rate we are going, we won't be able to hold out much longer. You need to keep your soldiers on the battlefield much longer and assign more field medics with each team."

"This is a war that my father left behind, one that I never wanted to fight. If you are that concerned, then you can go convince the council to agree to a ceasefire with the Senjus."

It hit him. That voice belonged to Natsuo Uchiha, the head of the council composed of prominent figures in the village, including the clan heads.

"Peace? Be glad that you aren't proposing this in front of the council otherwise they will perceive you to be a weak leader. You should already know that most of us aren't satisfied with a lot of your decisions lately, don't push your luck."

"I am weak? Perhaps I am doing what is best for the village. There's absolutely no point to this war. All we are doing is sending people out to die."

"The council wanted your father to step down after he called a ceasefire in the last war," Natsuo said. There was a warning tone in his voice. "We didn't oust him, but don't believe that we won't with you, even if there is no successor in line."

"And if you do that, then there's a zero percent chance that you will win the war." There was nothing but confidence oozing from his statement, enough to force Natsuo into a couple moments of silence.

When Natsuo spoke again, all of the conviction was drained from his voice. "Don't do anything that the council won't approve of. I'm here to warn you that the council is unhappy that you allowed the Senjus to overtake Hokuto."

Hokuto? One of the eight important defense sites surrounding the Uchiha territory. With Hokuto under their control, the Senjus would have access into their territory from the northeastern side. It was only a matter of time before they tried to take Kita, the watchtower in the north.

"I already sent Shisui to Kita and I'm working on forming an offensive team to retake Hokuto. I'll even go out there myself if I need to."

"Good. I'll trust you to keep to your promises."

Kakashi retreated down the hall to linger in front of Itachi's office. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Natsuo exiting the room, muttering something incomprehensible under his breath.

Itachi didn't follow Natsuo out of the room; instead, his chakra signature remained positioned in there with no indication that he was going to move anytime soon.

A single look at the open door propelled Kakashi's curiosity, but he quickly suppressed the feeling. If he was going to help them win the war, Kakashi needed to be able to stick around much longer, to gather information on the other six outposts. In the year and a half since war began, Kakashi had only been assigned to Hokuto and Kita and at times, part of the ambush group. Without any information on the strengths and weaknesses of the other six outposts, it would be difficult for the Senjus to make their move.

He needed to bide his time.

Ten minutes later, Itachi finally emerged from the room. The lines on his face seemed to become even more prominent than when Kakashi last saw him yesterday and the bags under his eyes were notably darker. His eyes flickered to the mission report in Kakashi's hand.

Itachi motioned Kakashi into his office, shutting the door closed before he crossed the distance between the door and table. Rounding his desk, Itachi pulled out his chair before sinking down into it.

"No sleep?" Kakashi inquired, even though he already knew the answer to that.

Itachi forced a small smile. "Couldn't say no to Sasuke's requests to help him train so I had to stay up all night to finish my work."

Kakashi placed the report on Itachi's desk, sliding it towards him. "What would you like me to do with the supplies?"

"Ask the medic to restock the supplies at the hospital and then send the rest to the outposts. I made a list of the village needs, so keep these amounts in the village. Divide the remaining items into eight sections and we'll send it to the outposts."

_Eight?_ Kakashi questioned himself, but he didn't voice that thought aloud. He wasn't supposed to know that Hokuto had been taken, yet.

Itachi continued to ramble on with instructions and by the time Kakashi left his office, it finally hit him that he was in charge of handling everything from sorting to delivering.

There was no way he was going to do inventory count on his own.

It was a good thing that Obito still owed him a couple of favors.

* * *

Stumbling back into his apartment at midnight, Kakashi made a beeline towards his room in the dark. At one point, his foot accidentally kicked one of Kenzou's books, to which he let out an angry hiss and a couple choice of words.

Kenzou was lucky that he was already asleep; otherwise, he would be on the receiving end of Kakashi's wrath for the nth time for leaving his things lying around. Snatching up the book off of the floor - not because Kakashi wanted to clean up after his messy roommate, but rather he wanted to save his toes from any further pain - he tossed the book onto the counter, not caring that it landed upside down, book open and most certainly wrinkling the pages.

For such a slob, Kenzou was super peculiar about keeping his books in pristine condition. That would teach him to stop leaving his things scattered around the living room.

Kakashi made it safely to his room without another injury. Flickering on the lights in his room, he immediately began pulling off his clothes, tossing them in the laundry basket on his way to the bathroom. Swiping the set of clean clothes that he laid out on top of the dresser this morning, Kakashi entered the bathroom to take a long, hot shower to soothe out the aches in his back from bending over all day to do inventory count.

He'd much rather be training.

Stepping out of the shower with a towel draped across his shoulders, Kakashi moved to sit at his desk, ignoring the urge to go straight to bed. His notepad, containing his to do list, sat at the center of his desk, seemingly mocking him.

Sighing, Kakashi reached for a pen and added another item for tomorrow: find Rin.

Flipping to the second page, Kakashi began writing the message for his sensei, containing the information that he had gathered in the last two days. When he finished, he tore the paper off of the notepad, rolled it up into a miniature scroll. Nicking the pad of his thumb, Kakashi performed the hand sequence for summoning.

Only instead of his dogs appearing, it was Kosuke, one of Minato sensei's messenger toads and the only toad that Kakashi could actually summon, despite having signed the summoning contract. A red toad was perched in the center of his desk, with a vial dangling from his neck, along with a note.

Kakashi retrieved both items from Kosuke's neck, replacing it with his note.

"Oi brat, don't summon me so late," Kosuke growled, slightly irritated. "Toads need to sleep too." Kakashi muttered his apologies, knowing that toads were quite fickle. It was already good enough that Kosuke always came when summoned, especially since Kakashi formed no bonds with the toad summons.

He still preferred his dogs for a reason.

Placing the vial off to the side, Kakashi unfurled the note, knowing that all of his questions would be answered in the note.

_Kakashi,_

_Lay low for a while. If you ever think you've been found out, run. Your safety should be your first priority._

_Thank you for the intel. Itachi is willing to negotiate for peace, yet it is the older generation that is more fervent in their opposition. With your information, we have successfully taken Hokuto and will move to Kita next. I will wait for your update before we move into Kita._

_Your feelings are normal. You should have received a vial from Tsunade; she informed me that it's poison. She hopes that it will aid you on your mission._

_Be careful._

* * *

The next morning, Kakashi's first stop was the hospital, only to be informed that Rin's shift didn't start until noon. After leaving the hospital, his next destination was her apartment. As he clambered up the stairs to the third floor in her apartment complex, he mentally went through the list of things he needed to complete. With Obito's help, most of the sorting was finished, save for the medical items. In the best case scenario, Kakashi could start delivering tomorrow and gather intel at the same time.

He just needed to make sure Obito doesn't decide to offer his assistance with delivering…

Kakashi was jolted out of his thoughts when he finally realized he had already arrived at his destination and had been lingering outside of her door for at least five minutes. Her next door neighbor had conveniently passed by, shooting him an odd look before she disappeared inside her own apartment.

His fingers curled up into a fist, raising it to knock twice on the door.

The door swung upon, revealing Rin, who was dressed like she was ready to go out despite her shift not starting for another four hours. Opening the door a bit wider, Rin invited Kakashi in, lingering by the door until he crossed the threshold and then shutting the door.

Kakashi took a seat at the kitchen table, turning down Rin's offer of tea. There was no way that he could get away with Rin not getting a glimpse of his face, not when she sat right across the table from him. Not when she stared at him so intently, studying him like she had just met him.

Kakashi cleared his throat loudly, jolting Rin out of her reverie. A sheepish smile formed on her face as her eyes darted to everywhere but on him. Her fingers busied themselves by maneuvering the mug in her hands in a circular arc.

"Did you need something?"

"It's about the supplies," Kakashi began. That was all he said before he witnessed the energy drain right out of her. The mug stopped spinning in her hands. The cheerful look in her eyes became clouded with something else, something that looked suspiciously like, disappointment?

Kakashi had more to say, but the words remained stuck in the back of his throat when he witnessed the subtle changes in her mood.

"What about it?" Rin forced herself to smile. Kakashi could tell it was forced; it was hardly even a shadow of the smile she had given him two days ago, after he had promised to help with her training…

It suddenly dawned on him. The details of their conversation may have slipped his mind, but Rin certainly hadn't forgotten. She must have thought that he was here to uphold his promise…

While he explained to her what she needed to do with the medical supplies, his mind was reeling. Pretending like the conversation never happened was the easy way out, but when the image of her face popped up in his mind - with her huge smile that practically radiated joy - Kakashi couldn't find it in his heart to crush it.

What was wrong with him? Kakashi was hardly the type to care about these things.

"I know I promised to train with you, but I'm going to be busy in the next few days because of this mission…" There were a lot of things that Kakashi deemed to not need an explanation; this was one of them, but his mouth moved on its own accord.

It was an instantaneous reaction. The joy shimmered brightly in her eyes. Her lips fidgeted, almost like she was trying to suppress the smile that threatened to appear, leading her to form an awkward half grin.

"That's alright! I can train on my own for the next couple of days." Rin really tried to hide the excitement from her voice, but it ended slipping out anyways.

"I should get going. See you tonight?"

Rin nodded. The excitement bubbled in her stomach, threatening to burst, but she managed to hold out until Kakashi left her apartment. Her back was pressed against her front door as she simply stood there, with a silly grin spread across her face.

He was the first to actually agree to train her, as Obito was always too busy to teach her much beyond basic target practice. Rin had heard numerous stories of Kakashi's skills on the battlefield, courtesy of Obito, so she felt extremely confident that she would improve tremendously under his guidance.

Then she would be one step closer to achieving her goal of becoming a field medic.

* * *

Teaching wasn't Kakashi's forte as he lacked the patience for explanations and the energy to be an encouraging instructor. Kakashi thought the training session would have been a one time thing; he would teach Rin something and then they would go their separate ways. Yet he was surprised to see the burning determination in her eyes - reminding him of a former classmate who was always clad in green - when she showed up to each meeting.

It became a routine that after each meeting, Rin would approach him to ask when he was training next. Whether it was before the sun even rose or late at night, Rin showed up to as many training sessions as possible. During one of their many training sessions, Kakashi had offhandedly questioned how she was always able to cooperate with his schedule, to which she responded that she often swapped shifts, often taking the overnight shifts to clear her schedule during the day.

If there was one thing that Kakashi really admired about her, it was her determination.

Kakashi knew that his explanations were often lacking, but it so happened that Rin had studied a lot of the theories behind most of the concepts, so there wasn't too much trouble for her to understand. And when she didn't understand, Rin didn't bother Kakashi; instead, she went scouring the library for additional information. It came as a surprise to him when he went to the library to return some jutsu scrolls to find Rin sitting at a table reading up on how to break out of a genjutsu.

Rin hadn't been lying when she said she was self taught, Kakashi quickly found out, when she revealed that she picked up on medical ninjutsu from reading books. That worked in his favor as it allowed him to work on his own training while she practiced whatever he taught her that day.

By the third week of training, Kakashi decided it was time to see exactly how much she had improved.

"Let's spar."

Her astonished "what?" quickly followed, followed by a few moments of silence as Kakashi watched the gears practically turning in her mind. "I don't think I'm ready yet."

"Then when will you be?"

As he predicted, Rin didn't have an answer for him.

"With that attitude, you won't ever be ready. I'm not expecting you to be able to beat me; I just want to see your progress."

Rin hesitantly agreed, moving to a fighting stance. Kakashi simply stood there, not even bothering to raise his arms to defend himself.

"You've been working on your taijutsu. I'll be on defense. Your goal is to land a hit on me." The look on Rin's face said it all; she thought it was impossible that she would land a hit on him. What she didn't know was that Kakashi had decided to go easy on her, lowering his level to match hers so she didn't feel too overwhelmed just yet.

Rin charged at him, her right hand curling up into a fist. Kakashi nodded in approval as he noted that she made a fist correctly, contrary to when she first started. His arm shot upwards, blocking her fist with his forearm. Her leg jutted outwards, sweeping in an arc beneath him as he jumped into the air. Pulling out a wire attached to a kunai, he launched the kunai towards the nearest tree and tugged on the wire to move him out of the trajectory of three of Rin's shuriken while in midair.

His feet landed on the base of the trunk. Abandoning the wire, Kakashi ran up the tree sensing Rin's chakra signature following him. Hopping onto a nearby branch, he ducked to the left, allowing a kunai to whiz by his left ear. The corner of his eye caught a familiar piece of paper attached, his hands finished executing the signs for a substitution jutsu right when Rin made the tiger seal to detonate the paper bomb.

Landing on the soft grass, Kakashi lingered there for the next five seconds as he waited for Rin to catch up to him. She did, appearing behind him with her chakra suppressed to the point where he hadn't sensed her until she was right there. His fast reflexes saved him; he whirled around just in time to counter her kunai with his own. The metal clang rang out. Kakashi placed more strength on the kunai and watched as her arm began to quiver under the strain.

Rin was quick to realize that she wouldn't win the strength contest. Pulling out a kunai with her other hand, she flung it at Kakashi's side. The move forced Kakashi to dodge, loosening his grip on his kunai, giving her an opening to knock the kunai out of his hands. Kunai forgotten, Kakashi quickly moved to counter the series of kicks and punches that followed.

Her taijutsu had improved tremendously, Kakashi noted, as he ducked down to avoid a kick at his head. His right hand caught her next punch, fingers curling around her hand to stop her movements, yet with a surprising burst of strength aided by chakra, she broke free of his grip.

Her raw strength was still lacking, yet her clever use of chakra could help her to overcome that particular weakness.

"You won't be able to overpower most people, so you'll have to use your speed to your advantage," Kakashi lectured in the midst of dodging her next strike. Frustration was written all over her face, possibly stemming from the lack of progress, but her emotions hadn't clouded her mind, just yet.

"Your current speed can rival an average shinobi," Kakashi continued. A brief childhood memory popped up in his mind: Gai, running around the village while wearing leg weights in a quest to improve his speed.

He turned the tables on her, forcing her onto defense as he began to strike back. An alarmed look morphed on Rin's face and her mouth opened to say something, but Kakashi didn't give her the opportunity. He made her force all of her attention on avoiding his hits.

Rin had been marginally successful in doing so, until Kakashi increased his speed, completely overwhelming her. Every other hit landed on her. Her calm and focused state quickly transformed into a frantic one. Rin lost focus, her body didn't seem to move in accordance to what her eyes were registering. She was flailing, desperately lashing out in hopes that it would accomplish something.

In under a minute, Kakashi had pinned her on the ground, with the tip of a kunai pointed at her throat. Her face was flushed from the exertion, droplets of sweat rolling down from her forehead. Her chest rose up and down heavily as she took in deep breaths.

"You panicked," Kakashi stated, tucking the kunai away in his weapons pouch. "You need to remain level headed at all times, so that you can properly be aware of your surroundings at all times."

Scrambling to get off of her when it finally hit him in what kind of position they were in, Kakashi sat in the grass next to her, all while trying to calm his beating heart that had nothing to do with the spar. Rin didn't seem to notice; with the aid of her elbow, she pushed herself upright into a sitting position.

"You were so fast. You were holding back a lot during the beginning, weren't you?"

Kakashi refrained from telling her that he had been holding back, even in the end. "You can't compare three weeks of training to two decades worth."

"Two decades? You were what, three?"

"Four," Kakashi corrected, even though that was besides the point. "You need to work on your speed and reflexes. Your form is good, but your left foot is always half a second late to react. Work on fixing your openings, then try to find different people to spar with so you can start studying on spotting openings and taking advantage of them."

"Thank you. I have to pull double shifts for the rest of the week, so I'll see you next week?"

"Word has been going around that another group will be sent out soon, so I don't know how much longer I will be staying in the village."

"What, why?" Rin questioned. "It's not time yet."

"Our forces have been stretched quite thin recently," Kakashi explained. "I'm sure you heard that the Senjus have taken one of our outposts."

"Do you think that I'll have a chance to be assigned to the outposts this time?"

Kakashi recalled that she once said being able to go out into the field was her dream. To be able to help more people, she said, yet when Kakashi opened his mouth to dissuade her from wanting to go - there was nothing glorious about being on the battlefield anyways - a thought crept to the recesses of his mind.

If Rin was killed on the battlefield, it wouldn't be his fault. More importantly, Kakashi wouldn't have to be the one to do it.

Three weeks. That was how long he hadn't thought about his mission. In those three weeks, she created an antidote to another one of Tsunade's poisons, saving at least ten people. She should have been dead three weeks ago.

Kakashi wasn't quite sure what he was stalling for, especially since he had already worked out multiple contingency plans with Sensei following the completion of the mission.

"You can ask Obito. He's been working closely with Itachi since Shisui went to the outpost."

She nodded. "Thank you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> Question for you: do you think Kakashi is really going to kill her?
> 
> I definitely tried to make him seem indecisive. On one hand, Kakashi does take his missions seriously and there is a stigma concerning his father's death (ie Kakashi doesn't want to make the same 'mistake' that his father did), but at the same time, he's slowly warming up to her and well, Rin hasn't done anything to harm him. So which side do you think Kakashi will fall on in the end? Curious to know your thoughts.
> 
> Thanks for reading. Until next time!  
> -MM


	16. Foreigner

**Past**

He was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. For the shinobis that have been tasked with tracking down the runaway boy, they received affirmatives from various villages that they had seen a young boy with silver hair pass through. Village after village, spanning from ones that neighbored the Senju territory to those located in neutral territory.

Yet over the course of two years, they had always been one step behind, always left behind to follow the nonexistent traces.

Minato didn't want to give up; Kakashi was practically like family to him but he didn't know how much longer he could withstand the pressure from the council.

_A waste of resources,_ they told him. Though no one said it out loud, Minato knew what they were thinking in their hearts.

_Why are you wasting so much effort for the son of a disgrace? It's better off if the boy never comes back._

Good thing Kakashi never had any intentions of returning.

Long ago, Kakashi had lost count of how many villages he had gone through. All he knew was that he had to keep moving, especially after receiving word that there were shinobis looking for him. No doubt his sensei's work, but Kakashi didn't want to be found. He didn't want to be persuaded into returning to the wretched place that caused his father's downfall. He didn't want to have to face Minato's disappointed look.

So Kakashi kept moving. His knowledge as a tracker helped him to cover up his tracks decently; the remnants would be washed away by nature and time. There had been one point when the shinobis had been too close to his tail for his liking that Kakashi had resorted to planting false trails to throw them off of his path.

It hadn't been too hard. They weren't trying too hard to locate him. Deep down in their hearts, they didn't want Kakashi back, just as much as he didn't want to return.

It was better that way.

Spending his life on the run wasn't ideal, especially not when most of his days were spent out in the wilderness than not, but Kakashi quickly grew accustomed to this lifestyle. Fishing, hunting, learning how to identify edible plants from not, performing odd jobs in various villages, blending into civilian life, all of those skills were quickly acquired.

It had been painfully obvious to Kakashi that he wasn't cut out for civilian life when he first left, when he stuck out so painfully like a sore thumb in a neighboring village. His movements were too graceful, his paranoia levels were impossible to fathom, his lack of knowledge of even the simplest things had earned him some odd looks.

But Kakashi was a shinobi. He learned to adapt.

Yet as he sat at the booth of a ramen stand, Kakashi's mind was in overdrive. He had taken the rightmost seat in the stand, leaving two seats empty between himself and the next person over. What he hadn't expected was for two young people, one male and the other female, to occupy the seats next to him right as he received his bowl of ramen. Kakashi instinctively shifted further away from them, angling his face towards the wall before pulling down his mask and quickly shovelling food into his mouth.

Not that anyone was looking. The couple had been so enraptured amongst each other, they hardly spared a glance at anyone else. Their joyful laughter had drawn Kakashi's attention; he snuck a couple of quick peeks at the duo.

Both wore genuine smiles that didn't seem to fade away any time soon.

Kakashi jerked his eyes away from them, staring intently at the broth and the pieces of noodles and toppings that floated in the soup.

Will he ever be able to be happy again?

Happiness...he once associated that with his father coming home after weeks or months out on the battlefield or when Minato sensei complimented his skills or when he spent his days lying under the sun with Asuma basking in each other's presence, but all of that was gone now. His father was gone, tormented and betrayed by the same village that he had dedicated his life to serving.

Kakashi's fingers gripped the edge of the counter with enough force that the tips of his fingers turned bright red. His nails dug into the wood, leaving their mark as Kakashi's thoughts continued to spiral down that path.

His father gave his life to protect the villagers. His father worked tirelessly, often being sent out onto the battlefield as one of the Senju's most prized soldiers. His father sacrificed time with his family, with his friends in order to protect the village. On the battlefield, he had saved countless lives. His father was the perfect shinobi: dedicated and talented. The village's safety had always been his top priority.

Kakashi knew it was dangerous to go down this train of thought, but he couldn't help himself.

All of that and for what? A single mistake and the entire village, one that he once called home, turns their back on him. The one time that he needed their support, they betrayed him.

Betrayed him.

Kakashi hated them.

The notion of revenge has crossed his mind a couple of times throughout the years, but what was the point? Revenge wouldn't make him feel any better. Revenge wouldn't bring his father back.

No, he would do the same thing that they have done to him.

Betray them.

* * *

For the fifth time that day, Obito snuck a glance at the mysterious silver haired boy. The boy had been the replacement for one of the guys who had dropped out a week into Sora Uchiha's brutal training.

It was his third day here and he still hadn't uttered a single word unless he was addressed. He took all of Sora's training wordlessly, didn't even protest when he was subjected to additional laps around the training ground than others. He was Sora's latest victim, but his lack of reaction left Sora extremely irritated. Obito wagered it wouldn't be long until Sora gave up and picked a different victim.

But who else was there? Half of them came from the Uchiha clan while the other half came from clans allied with the Uchihas. The boy was the perfect target: clanless, new, and not to mention, Obito had heard the rumors.

Kakashi Hatake was the son of the famed White Fang, a known powerhouse of the Senju force. Someone formerly affiliated with the Senjus...more of a reason for Sora to pick on him since they were technically in the middle of a ceasefire.

And no one, not even a war hawk like Sora, would want to incur the wrath of Fugaku Uchiha just to fight some Senjus.

Targeting Kakashi seemed like the next best thing.

It was always the minor things, like extra laps around the training field, constantly criticizing his stance when there was nothing wrong with it, giving him defective equipment - Obito had to watch in horror as a paper bomb blew up, luckily Kakashi's reflexes were insanely good, requesting Kakashi to spar with Sora just as guise so that he could beat him up, and so on.

Others noticed it too; Obito knew that they weren't stupid. Everyone else was just turning a blind eye to it.

Across the training ground, Obito spotted Sora leaning casually against the trunk of a tree. His eyes swept the field, flickering briefly on each one of them, before they finally landed on Kakashi. A smirk formed on Sora's face as his eyes remained glued onto the silver haired boy. Obito's eyes widened when he noticed Sora's fingers moving to execute a series of hand signs; was he seriously going to use a jutsu on Kakashi?

Obito's heart clenched at the prospect of the other boy getting hurt, but he was conflicted. The only way he would be able to warn Kakashi was by shouting, but that would mean he was going to draw attention to himself. Was becoming Sora's next victim worth saving the foreign boy from his fate?

_Screw it. Regardless of what his background is, Kakashi is still a comrade!_

With his mind made up, Obito opened his mouth to holler Kakashi's name, but his name remained lodged at the back of his throat as he watched the land suddenly split in front of Kakashi. There hadn't been enough time for Kakashi to react, the front of his foot caught the edge of the split, knocking him off balance. Just as Obito thought Kakashi was going to faceplant, Kakashi caught his fall with both of his hands. Swinging the lower half of his body into the air, Kakashi successfully executed a front flip, landing neatly on his two feet.

And then he continued running, like nothing had ever happened.

The sour look on Sora's face was a sight to see. Obito ducked his head slightly off to the side, stifling his laughter. As he passed by Sora on his way around the training field, Obito schooled his features to remain impassive, but the moment he was out of sight, Obito broke out in a grin.

The sky was already dark when Sora finally let them off of training. Most of the group quickly scattered, eager to finally be able to rest. Kakashi left the training field at a leisure pace, giving Obito the impression that he didn't really have anywhere to be. With that in mind, Obito hurried to catch up to the boy, calling out his name.

Kakashi didn't turn around.

Frowning, Obito quickly crossed the remaining distance between the two of them, grabbing Kakashi by the shoulder. Kakashi halted, shrugging Obito's hand off of his shoulder before he spun around to face him.

"Are you deaf? I've been calling your name."

"What do you want?"

"What's with the attitude?" Obito fired back, completely irritated at Kakashi's attitude. He had originally thought that they would have gotten along, hell, Obito even sympathized with him, but he guessed it was completely wasted. "I was going to congratulate you for being able to avoid Sora's tricks, but I guess with your attitude, maybe his targeting is well deserved."

Kakashi stared at him coldly. "Is that all?"

Without waiting for an answer, Kakashi turned back around, already moving to leave.

"Hey! Wait a second!"

Kakashi paused for a second time, but this time, he didn't bother to turn around. Obito moved to stand in front of Kakashi, who didn't glance up to meet his eyes.

"Why are you acting like this? At this rate, you're never going to make any friends."

"I don't need friends."

Obito was completely appalled that anyone had that thought. "I know as an outsider, it's going to be difficult to make friends, but keep that attitude up and you'll be completely miserable here."

"So what?" Kakashi had finally glanced up to make eye contact with him, subjecting Obito to the emotionless and cold pair of black eyes. "Now leave me alone. Just because you want to be friends doesn't mean I want to."

Obito didn't want to bother, especially with his attitude, but he had a philosophy in life that he would never abandon a comrade. And Obito wasn't the type to break his promises.

"No way! I'm not going to give up on my comrade!"

An exasperated look formed on Kakashi's face. "That's foolish. If you associate yourself with me, you'll be Sora's target too."

As soon as the words left Kakashi's mouth, a surprised expression flickered over his features before Kakashi quickly masked it with nonchalance.

"Whatever, it's your suffering."

This time, Kakashi teleported out of sight before Obito could shout at Kakashi for being so stubborn. Sighing, Obito began to make his way home. A small smile formed on Obito's lips as he recalled Kakashi's words.

Kakashi cared. While the mention of Sora had seemed like a threat to keep Obito away, Kakashi's reaction told a completely different story. It seemed like the words had accidentally slipped out of his mouth.

He cared.

That stupid grin remained on Obito's face for the rest of the way home.

* * *

Obito had made it his personal mission to become Kakashi's friend. When he noticed that Kakashi's lunch consisted of a piece of plain bread and water, Obito insisted on sharing some of his food with Kakashi. Kakashi adamantly refused, even going at lengths to avoid him by hiding in obscure places.

It pained Obito to admit that it had taken him three days to find Kakashi's new hiding spot, sitting on the branch of a tree near their training grounds, but the end result was the same. Obito had tracked him down.

And Kakashi fled again.

The pattern persisted three more times: Obito would eventually find Kakashi and consequently, Kakashi would move to a new hiding spot. The next time Obito found Kakashi, he tried a different approach; instead of shouting for him to stop running away, Obito left a bundle of fruit wrapped in a tablecloth right in Kakashi's line of sight.

Then Obito left.

The tablecloth was returned to him after training that day, quickly muttering his gratitude before Kakashi shunshined out of sight.

During training, Obito would always find a way to train near Kakashi. Not too close to him for Kakashi to be bothered and also not close enough for Sora to start picking on him too. Yet Obito hated feeling utterly useless everytime he had to watch Sora torment Kakashi.

After punishing Kakashi to fifty extra push ups for sloppy form, Sora caught Obito staring. He tried to avert his eyes and pretend that they had been riveted on the wooden post the entire time, but it was too late.

"Uchiha, what were you staring at?" Sora shouted, loud enough for those all the way on the other side of the training field to hear as well. The others had stopped what they had been doing, briefly before resuming their practice, not wanting to be subjected to the same fate as Obito.

Obito had stopped, his mind racing to come up with a decent excuse as he turned around to face Sora. Only for Sora to turn his attention off of him and back onto Kakashi. Faster than Obito's eyes could follow, a kunai landed in the grass right next to Kakashi. A trickle of blood dripped from Kakashi's arm and onto the grass.

"Arms ninety degrees!" Sora barked, hand waving around another kunai menacingly in the air. "Start over from the beginning!"

Kakashi took the punishment wordlessly. By the time Sora was done berating the other boy, he had long forgotten about Obito and moved on to the others.

Obito felt guilty.

Like everyday after training, Kakashi was always in a hurry to leave before Obito caught up with him, but Obito was determined to not let him go today. Sprinting across the training field, Obito caught up with Kakashi, hand reaching out to latch on to his arm when Kakashi sidestepped, twisting his body to the side. With nothing to hold onto, Obito's momentum sent him tripping over an uneven patch on the ground.

He landed face first onto the dirt.

With as much dignity he could muster, Obito picked himself off of the ground, brushing off the dirt that clung to the fabric of his clothes. Kakashi had his arms crossed over his chest while he simply stared at him.

"What do you want?"

"Oi! You could have at least asked if I was alright!" Obito exclaimed.

The deadpan look remained on Kakashi's face. "Only idiots trip over a flat patch of land."

That had sparked another round of an indignated response from Obito. By the time he had settled down, Obito finally remembered why he had sought out Kakashi in the first place.

"Thanks for earlier," Obito grudgingly muttered. He immediately jerked his head off of the side, refusing to acknowledge the smug look that he knew Kakashi would have.

"A weakling like you wouldn't have been able to handle the punishment anyways."

Obito couldn't help himself; he turned his head back to face Kakashi, with insults at the tip of his tongue when he realized that there wasn't a smug expression on Kakashi's face. No, it was still the same impassive expression that Kakashi always wore, but with a hint of fondness?

Obito blinked twice to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"That's why you shouldn't associate yourself with me. You wouldn't be able to handle the punishment anyways."

"No way! I'm not as weak as you think; I can handle it. Friends are in this together; I'm not going to let you deal with it by yourself."

From the look that Kakashi gave him, Obito knew the other boy thought he was crazy and stupid for willingly putting himself in the spotlight just to become friends with him.

But Obito valued their friendship that much.

Sometime during the span of their unorthodox friendship, Obito found out where Kakashi lived. He made an effort to get out of bed fifteen minutes earlier, much to his grandmother's surprise. Earlier than ever, Obito was out of the door and waiting across the street from the apartment complex where Kakashi lived.

Ten minutes before training was supposed to begin and Kakashi still hadn't appeared. Obito feared that Kakashi overslept, but he didn't know exactly which complex Kakashi lived in. Conflicted, Obito practically ran to the training grounds, arriving a minute before he would have been deemed late.

Only to find that Kakashi was already there.

When he confronted Kakashi about it later, Kakashi merely scoffed.

"I leave before seven every morning."

Obito's eyes practically bulged out of his sockets. That was an entire hour earlier than they were supposed to meet! Suffice to say, Obito never made the effort to wake up early again. Instead, he managed to coerce Kakashi into agreeing that they would at least walk back to town together after training.

Progress.

* * *

Kakashi Hatake was a genius, a prodigy, surpassing all of his peers at such incredible speed. In just under six months, he received his first promotion. While everyone knew that Kakashi, genius or not, would never make it to the top of the ranks due to his heritage, he still escaped from Sora's control. So did Obito albeit much later than Kakashi had.

They had escaped, until they were assigned to a squad, underneath Sora's command. An informant had brought back the news that a growing number of Senju shinobis were sighted in Chusei, a small village located right outside the Uchiha territory. Although the town was generally considered to be neutral territory, it was still too close for comfort.

As expected, Sora was the first to jump at the opportunity, itching for the chance to fight the Senjus again.

No one else in their age group had been chosen except for them. Kakashi suspected it was a combination of Sora's dislike towards them and a test of Kakashi's loyalty. After all, even three years later, Sora still didn't trust him.

It was Obito's first time on the battlefield. In the previous war, Obito had only been a shinobi for a little over a year before the war ended, so he had been deemed too inexperienced to be on the battlefield. For Kakashi, the anxiety and anticipation of a real first war experience wasn't what was getting to him: it was the prospect of meeting former comrades on the battlefield.

It was highly unlikely that would be the case, but Kakashi didn't know how he would react if he spotted a familiar face. Luckily, Obito's worries were there to distract him.

"Oi Bakakashi...what is war like?"

How could he even begin to explain that to him? War was something that they all learned in the Academy, but no one really understood it until they experienced it completely. All along the way, Obito pestered Kakashi with an infinite amount of questions, some related to war, others not.

Kakashi was grateful for the distraction.

One moment Kakashi had been explaining the concept of a tactical retreat to Obito and in the next, a wave of killing intent washed over them before a barrage of kunai rained down on them. Kakashi was quick to react, a kunai in hand to deflect the ones that he couldn't dodge.

The first enemy emerged, firing a giant fireball jutsu in their direction. Grabbing onto the collar of Obito's shirt, Kakashi yanked him along as the two of them ducked to the side. Landing on his side, Kakashi rolled, getting back onto his feet in less than three seconds only to find himself face to face with an enemy donning a white mask with an animal-like pattern.

Anbu?

Kakashi leaped out of the way when the Anbu swung his sword in a wide arc, saving his head from getting severed. He ducked, sliding underneath the arc to close the distance between them. His foot swung to knock the Anbu off of his feet, but the Anbu had jammed the sword into the ground and used it as a flip out of Kakashi's reach.

A barrage of shurikens and kunai were thrown in the Anbu's direction as he landed, but the Anbu easily deflected all of the projectiles with his sword. Spinning around, the Anbu sword rammed straight through Clone Kakashi's stomach, poofing out of existence.

"Tsk just a brat not worth my time," the Anbu murmured.

The Anbu rushed towards him, hands forming the familiar sequence for a fireball jutsu. Kakashi responded with a water jutsu of his own, both jutsus clashing and ramming into each other at the same time. While enshrouded in the evaporation mist, Kakashi took the opportunity to slip underground, leaving a clone above ground.

Clone Kakashi lingered in the vicinity of where he was summoned, but the Anbu moved rapidly towards the clone.

A sensor type?

Kakashi inched closer to the Anbu as he closed in on his clone. Right as he felt his clone's chakra flare in response, Kakashi bursted out of the underground, registering that the Anbu had noticed his presence underground and had begun to swing his sword towards the ground…

Only for Kakashi to catch the blade of the sword with his bare hands. A kick in the stomach forced the Anbu to let go of the sword, stumbling back a few steps before recovering his balance. Flipping the sword so that he was now gripping the handle, he channelled lightning chakra to coat the entirety of the sword.

No longer having his prized weapon, the Anbu was forced to fight with kunai.

Metal clashed against metal, as boy and man tried to one up each other. Yet Kakashi knew that the Anbu was increasingly at a disadvantage the longer the fight went on as it was clear that kenjutsu was his primary form of offense. A few more fire jutsus were shown, but easily countered by his water jutsus or mud wall, low level genjutsus that did nothing to stop his momentum, and average taijutsu.

Kakashi needed to end the fight soon; he knew that the Anbu was leading him closer to his comrades and if that happened, the fight would be in the Anbu's favor once more.

A low level jutsu was enough to distract the Anbu enough to not notice Kakashi switch places with a shadow clone, where the real body once again disappeared underground. Tunnelling to the Anbu's approximate location, Kakashi bursted out of the ground, right behind the Anbu. The Anbu spun around at an alarmingly fast rate, driving a kunai into Kakashi's shoulder and twisting his body to avoid the lightning charged sword to be driven into a vital organ.

The Anbu grunted from the pain, knees buckling from beneath him. Kakashi yanked the sword out of the Anbu and jumped back as the Anbu fell to the ground from the immense pain and damage suffered. Even if the sword missed a vital organ, the lightning chakra had fried all of his nerves and blood vessels nearby.

He would die soon.

Yanking the kunai out of his shoulder, Kakashi tossed it to the ground before heading off to engage in the next enemy.

It was his first kill as a shinobi for the Uchiha.

Kakashi didn't know how he felt. Numbness had taken over his heart as he rejoined the next fight, spilling his former comrades' blood all over the battlefield.

The skirmish had ended in their victory, but it felt so hollow and utterly pointless. Sora shouted at them to get moving.

"If they're too weak to get back on their own, then they deserve to die!"

If Obito was here, Kakashi knew that he would have expressed his rage towards abandoning a comrade, giving the same speech that Kakashi had heard a thousand times.

_Those who abandon a comrade are worse than scum!_

Kakashi's eyes widened as the realization hit him.

Obito was missing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> Fun fact: I actually went back to write this chapter and inserted it in the past plot line. I actually finished writing the past plot line before I went back to work on the present, then I realized there was never a chapter addressing how Kakashi and Obito met. So here it is! Between Itachi/Shisui's friendship and Kakashi/Obito's friendship, I'm not sure which one I like more haha.
> 
> I guess I sort of skirted around the exact details of how Kakashi joined the Uchihas, but now you have the motive and the short scene from one of the present chapters. If you piece it together, basically the Uchihas don't really trust him, but he's talented so they took him anyways. The "apartment" complex that he lives in is basically where they put all of the orphans/no clan families and it is under watch.
> 
> The beginning of this chapter was not my best work and I debated deleting it a couple of times, but I guess I left it. I thought I made him seem a bit too Sasuke like, but then I tried to backtrack it. Basically, no matter what he tells himself, Kakashi doesn't want to be found and the only place where Minato won't look for him is at the Uchihas. :)
> 
> Thank you for reading!  
> -MM


	17. Shared Predicaments

**Present**

"I'm leaving for Kita in two days."

"Kita? Isn't Shisui already there?"

Obito nodded. "Next week, you and Toshiro will be sent out to Azuma. We're going to retake Hokuto by attacking from both sides."

The first attempt to take back Hokuto by the offensive team situated at Kita had ended in failure. Word had it that some of the strongest Senju shinobis were stationed there, including the Sarutobi heir, the famed Ino-Shika-Cho trio, and the Yellow Flash. The Uchihas had seen it as an opportunity to attack one of the Senju's outposts instead, while their forces were heavily concentrated in defending Hokuto, yet that ambush was thwarted when they were confronted by Jiraiya and Tsunade.

Kakashi lightly elbowed Obito's side. "At least I won't have to see Sora. Consider it payback for ditching me last time."

Obito rolled his eyes. "It was only for a few days and you got to leave much earlier than expected. Besides, if it all works out, then we'll be stationed at Hokuto."

"So what's the plan?"

Obito told him, down the exact detail. It sounded perfect in theory, boxing them in from both sides, overwhelming them and forcing them to retreat. Shisui would be the one to fight Minato, if Minato was even at Hokuto. There were speculations regarding his presence, some claiming that he wasn't even there, but used his reputation to deter them from attacking. It was hard to believe that the leader of the entire Senju force would lower himself to simply defending an outpost.

Kakashi knew that Sensei likely was elsewhere and if he was spotted at Hokuto, then it would mean that they were planning to go on offense.

He also couldn't wrap his mind around the appearance of Ino-Shika-Cho. Shikaku was an invaluable asset to the Senjus for his brilliant tactical mind, and since the last war, he stayed in the village alongside Hiruzen to give out orders. The Yamanaka clan's mind jutsu allowed them an advantage of passing along information and orders in real time. As the clan heir, Inoichi would be the most well versed in all of his clan jutsus, which meant he would stay in the village to serve as the epicenter of the communication line. Logically, the only one who would be on the field was Choza.

That meant Ino-Shika-Cho's appearance was mostly a farce, most likely capitalizing on their reputations to keep the Uchihas from attacking. Choza was probably the only one there, along with another Yamanaka and Nara, but their power wouldn't compare to the original trio's.

When the Uchihas did attack, they would send out a larger force than necessary, leaving their outpost to be more vulnerable. It would be the perfect opportunity to strike, especially if they took advantage of the blind spot due to the difference in elevation from the northern edge.

Kakashi had to admit that it was a good move on their part albeit risky.

Obito let out an annoyed groan. "The stupid elders have been breathing down our necks about Hokuto, otherwise we wouldn't make a move so early."

"Early?"

"Itachi had the next ten moves planned out." Kakashi refrained from mentioning that Shikaku probably had double the amount of moves planned. "Besides, there's a rat in our ranks. Itachi was going to take advantage of the leak and feed false information, lull the Senjus into a false sense of security."

"Any idea who it might be?" Kakashi ventured to ask.

Obito shrugged. "I think Itachi has a few suspects, but I'm not aware of who they are. He told me to spread the information to as many people as possible so it'll get to the rat's ears."

"What information? That we're going to attack from both fronts?"

Obito shook his head. "We're going to attack on both fronts as a ruse to force the Senjus to concentrate their forces at Hokuto. Our real target is Hoshi."

Hoshi, a vital junction that allowed them access to one of their largest sources of water. Based on proximity, it was also the nearest outpost to Hokuto, which meant it would become the prime source for reinforcements.

"But our real target isn't Hoshi, isn't it?" Kakashi pressed, hoping he would get Obito to slip up on the real plans.

"Of course not," Obito answered. A puzzled look appeared on his face as his forehead scrunched up, looking like he was in deep thought. "Actually, I don't know what the plan is exactly. Guess it slipped my mind to ask Itachi about it."

It was at that moment that Kakashi knew that Itachi was very aware of who the rat was. Kakashi had to admit that he was even more cunning than he had originally thought; by telling Obito, the closest person to Kakashi, it was guaranteed that the words would reach his ears. And knowing how much Obito trusted Kakashi, Obito wouldn't have any qualms about spilling everything, so Itachi didn't let Obito in on the entire plan.

All of this forced his mind into overdrive as he contemplated the numerous different possibilities that could happen. What was Itachi's endgame? Hokuto? Hoshi? Or something else?

If Itachi knew he was a spy, what was his purpose for sending him to Azuma? Why didn't he interrogate him and find out everything that Kakashi had told the Senjus? Why didn't he just kill him?

Or maybe, it was a trick to alarm him. To startle him into running and lead them to the village, showing them how to slip through the Senju's defenses. That might have worked for anyone else, but Kakashi already knew that he was going to die on Uchiha soil from the day he agreed to undertake the mission. Sensei was under the impression that he was going to return, but Kakashi had never planned on it.

Either he was going to die on the field or he would die when they killed him for being a traitor.

"Kakashi?" Obito waved his hand in front of Kakashi's face, but he still didn't seem to register his action. Obito called out his name again, the blank look on Kakashi's face remained. He nudged him with his shoulder with a considerable amount of force, enough to shove Kakashi forward, who lost his balance for a second before his shinobi reflexes saved him from face planting. Kakashi whirled around, directing his glare at Obito.

"What was that for?"

Obito innocently shrugged. "I called your name so many times and tried many different ways to get your attention for the past few minutes. Clearly force was the only method that worked. What are you thinking so hard about anyways? Don't tell me you're the rat?"

Kakashi almost choked on his spit, even if he knew that Obito was saying it in a joking manner. "What are you going on about now?"

A huge grin morphed on Obito's face as he tossed an arm around Kakashi's shoulders. "You know I was kidding. Don't take it too seriously."

Kakashi rolled his eyes at Obito's antics, lightly brushing Obito's arm off of his shoulder. Luckily, Obito hadn't picked up on his weird reaction.

"Come on, let's spar. Better make sure that you're still in shape before you go out onto the field."

Obito's grin became even wider. "You're on, Bakakashi!"

* * *

It was approaching three hours from the time that Kakashi told her he would be at the training field today and Rin feared that he would have already finished his training and left. Her entire overnight shift had been peaceful until an hour before she was set to get off. One of her patient's heart acted up again, resulting in an impromptu operation to save his life, followed by an emergency situation when two shinobis were brought in, on the verge of death. One thing led to another and the next thing she knew, it was rapidly approaching noon.

Rin wanted to go home and sleep; it had been almost twelve hours since she left the hospital, but she didn't want to stand up Kakashi, if he was still there. Not to mention, Rin had been genuinely excited when he told her last time they met that he would teach her something new today…

Guess that would have to wait another day, Rin thought to herself upon arriving at an empty training ground. She had been ready to leave, when she felt two flares of chakra signatures in the vicinity.

One figure hopped out of the trees, landing on the grass, standing still just long enough for Rin to make out the Uchiha crest on his back before he moved again. Hands forming a sequence of hand seals, a massive ball of fire came out of his mouth, right at the figure who had hurtled out of the trees.

Rin's eyes widened as the second figure's body was engulfed by the flames, her instincts screaming at her to run over and help him when she saw the flames die down, two pieces of charred log in the figure's place. Her eyes found the first person again, who whirled around at such speed to block an incoming punch from the second figure, who seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

All she could see were blurs of black and white as the two of them engaged in a taijutsu match.

_So that is how shinobis fight,_ Rin mused as she continued to marvel at their insane speed. Her eyes could barely follow their movements and it wasn't until the two of them broke apart, standing three meters apart and simply staring at each other, could she finally make out their identities.

Kakashi and Obito.

Rin wanted to keep quiet so that she would witness more of their spar, but it was too late. They already knew she was there. Obito beckoned her over.

"Why did you stop? You were just getting to the good part!" Rin exclaimed as she bounded up to the pair.

Obito chuckled, jabbing a finger in Kakashi's direction. "You mean the part where I kick Kakashi's ass?"

Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest, scoffing loudly upon hearing Obito's statement. "Like you ever could."

"Whatever, don't listen to him. Kakashi is just bitter because I can totally kick his ass. In all seriousness though, what are you doing here, Rin?"

Rin opened her mouth, but shut it when she realized that she had never told Obito about training with Kakashi. After being solicited to become Itachi's right hand man after Shisui left, Obito became extremely busy and both of their schedules often clashed, so Rin saw him far and few in between. The few times that they managed to meet over the past month, the topic never came up.

"I've been training her," Kakashi commented offhandedly.

"Really?" Obito looked towards Rin for confirmation. She nodded.

"Ah, didn't know that the two of you were that close." He let out a half hearted chuckle.

"Sorry I never told you. It must have slipped my mind." Rin wasn't lying; it really did.

"No worries. I'm just surprised, that's all. I had to run so many errands before I could get Kakashi to teach me one of his jutsus. And even after he agreed, he was such a pain in the ass. I mean, who can understand what he's trying to say when he skips over all the crucial details?"

And just like that, the smothering atmosphere between them disappeared. Kakashi smacked the back of Obito's head, who let out a pained noise, before whirling around to face the culprit.

"Maybe if you read more books on jutsu theories, you would have understood my explanations. You've known Rin for so many years, why didn't her studious nature rub off on you?"

"Hey! It's not my fault that the books are boring. Besides, I'm not like you, always trying to create new jutsus. I'll admit that the Chidori is pretty badass, but you can't even use it in battle, so what's the point?"

"Why can't you use it?" Rin piped up, cutting off Kakashi's retort.

Before Kakashi could answer Rin's question, Obito cut in. "The jutsu makes him move so fast that his brain won't be able to register any of the enemy's counterattacks, so it's dangerous for him to use. It's because he's not awesome enough to have the Sharingan like me!" Obito pointed haughtily to his own set of his eyes.

"Sorry I wasn't born an Uchiha," Kakashi sarcastically replied. He remained quiet for a few moments, before he continued. "At least that means that I don't have to be related to you. That would be a nightmare."

That comment earned a laugh from Rin and a deadly glare from Obito. Kakashi and Obito continued to bicker, flinging insults back and forth, yet there was no malice behind their words.

How she envied that kind of friendship.

"Hey Rin, since you're already here, how about a spar? I want to see how much you have improved," Obito suggested.

Rin shook her head. "Sorry Obito. I just got off of an overnight shift so I'm really sleepy."

"Oh I see." Disappointment was evident on Obito's face.

"Is something the matter?"

"I'm leaving for Kita in two days and I don't know when I will be back." Rin felt sad that Obito had to leave again, so soon, but she had already gotten used to the feeling long ago. At one point or another, all of her friends left for war; she was the only one that ever stayed behind.

"Dinner at my place tonight," Rin announced. "Both of you have to come. At least let's all have dinner together before you have to go."

Both of them agreed, with Rin extracting a promise from Obito that he wouldn't be late this time. Just in case, Rin told him the wrong time, thirty minutes prior than when she had intended dinner to start.

Now she would go home to take a quick nap, then wake up before dinner.

That sounded like a plan.

* * *

How Kakashi wished that he could get into Itachi's head. He spent the afternoon plotting all of the possible plans that Itachi could possibly have, but he was coming up short. He had a gut feeling that he was missing something crucial. Something that should be so blatantly obvious that it had slipped from his radar.

His finger traced the lines on the map again. Two arrows from Kita and Azuma directed at Hokuto. An arrow from Hoshi led to Hokuto, which would be the main source of reinforcements due to their close proximity. Even though Obito said Hoshi wasn't the target, Kakashi couldn't help but wonder if it was a ruse, to make them think it wasn't, but it actually was.

But what if the Senjus actually did fortify Hoshi? What then? Or did they just want Hokuto? Or did they want Hoshi so they can surround Hokuto from all sides while cutting off one of their major sources of water?

The vast amount of possibilities was making his head hurt.

Ideally, the Senjus would have to take Azuma next; there was no Shisui there, no Sora, and no Obito, yet there was the risk that the squad at Kita would take the opportunity to retake Hokuto. There was still a spy somewhere, and if that spy was stationed at Hokuto, that would complicate things immensely.

Kakashi's eyes scoured the map for the fifth time. Oto? No, they were located south of the Uchiha's borders and would be too far away to assist. Most of the other villages allied with the Uchihas were civilian ones, mainly for supply trading. They got their supplies evenly throughout different villages, so cutting off access to one wouldn't make much of a difference.

Kakashi looked further, mouth forming an o shape when he finally realized what he was missing all along.

The Land of the Whirlpool. It was located so close to the Senju's western border that it had slipped his mind that the Uchihas had taken it in the previous war. Although for sentimental reasons, Kakashi knew his sensei wanted to get that piece of land back, taking it didn't have much strategic value for them other than securing their western border. Yet from what he heard, the shinobis stationed at Whirlpool had never once tried to attack the western border.

They were just there.

Unless…

Kakashi drew two more arrows, one coming from the western post and the other coming from the eastern post to Hoshi. If they were going to fortify both Hokuto and Hoshi, they would move shinobis from Hoshi to Hokuto, then move shinobis from Hikari and Yami to Hoshi, leaving Hikari, their western front, vulnerable.

The perfect opportunity for them to strike.

Gripping his pen tightly, Kakashi reached over to grab a piece of paper before he began to write.

* * *

The vial of poison seemed to burn a hole in his pants while it rested in his right pocket. All throughout dinner, every now and then, Kakashi couldn't help but to reach over and touch the vial, almost as if to remind him of his mission.

Kakashi was running out of time. In one week, he would be sent out again and Rin would remain in the village. He would lose his opportunity to complete his mission.

He couldn't make the same mistake that his father did.

It was at that moment did Kakashi really have an idea of what his father had gone through a decade ago.

Kakashi was jolted from his thoughts when Obito offered him a drink. Kakashi declined, to which Obito shrugged and drank sake straight from the bottle. Judging from how flushed he was, Kakashi figured that Obito was already drunk. It wouldn't be long before he passed out. Meanwhile, Rin drank alongside Obito, but she didn't even look a bit tipsy.

"Medical ninjutsu can flush alcohol right out of my system," Rin explained when she noticed Kakashi's questioning gaze.

Kakashi snorted. "What's the fun in that? Obito is just getting drunker and drunker all by himself."

Rin shrugged, her gaze sliding over to Obito, who swayed dangerously. Kakashi's hand had to reach out to push him back against the seat before his head collided with the table.

"He's too drunk to notice anyways."

From beside him, Obito was muttering all sorts of nonsense. The only word that Kakashi could make out was Rin's name, which he would surely use for blackmail later. However, he needed to prevent Obito from saying something that he would regret in the morning; Kakashi could imagine how horrified he would be if he woke up remembering that he unexpectedly confessed to Rin.

"He's pretty much out of it. Can you tell me where I can put him so he can sleep off the alcohol?" Kakashi had already reached out to grab Obito's arm, ready to swing it over his shoulders when Rin's hand stopped him.

"I got him."

Kakashi shot her a skeptical look.

"Consider it as a form of strength training. I promise that I won't drop him."

"Are you sure you can carry him?"

Rin nodded. "Positive. Besides, you can finish the rest of your dinner while we're gone. I know that you probably feel uncomfortable eating in front of us."

Kakashi aided her in pulling a slumped over Obito out of his seat and propped the brunt of his weight against Rin. Upon shouldering the added weight, Rin had buckled over, stumbling a bit, but Kakashi caught her before she could fall. Rin righted herself once more, readjusting Obito's weight on her shoulders. Coaxing a barely conscious Obito to move, the two of them made slow progress out of the kitchen.

Pulling down his mask, Kakashi finished the remainder of his dinner in three minutes, then proceeded to clean the table, taking the dirty bowls and plates to the sink and tossing away the empty bottles of sake in the trash.

He returned to the table with two glasses of water. After pinpointing Rin's chakra signature, he concluded that she was still in the bedroom, with no indication that she was returning to the kitchen anytime soon.

Rin probably was stalling, to give him more time to eat.

It was his chance.

Kakashi reached into his pocket, pulling out the vial of clear liquid. Popping the cork with his thumb, he dumped the contents into the right glass. Holding up the glass to the light, he swirled the water around, watching all traces of the foreign substance disappear and merge with the water. He slowly set the glass back down on the table.

A sickening feeling formed in his stomach.

He was no stranger to killing, but it would be the first time that he killed someone he knew. It would be the first time he would kill someone unprovoked.

A memory of his father popped up in his head. The sight of his father with dark circles under his eyes, a dead look in eyes, hollow cheeks, unkempt hair. The taunting, the whispers, the graffiti, the insults.

That memory spurred Kakashi to slide the glass of water towards Rin's side of the table right as she appeared. He quickly retracted his hand, noting that the glass was left right at the edge of the table, with the risk of toppling over.

Rin reclaimed her seat.

"He's asleep."

The two of them sat at the dinner table, talking. Well, Rin carried the majority of the conversation, with Kakashi interjecting in a few appropriate moments to drive the conversation forward.

"Last time you mentioned that the Senjus betrayed your family. Is that what spurred you to join the Uchihas instead?"

Kakashi didn't know when the conversation had suddenly turned into a heart to heart.

"If you're asking about revenge, no. It crossed my mind a couple of times, but that was when I was young and stupid. I figured that the Uchihas were the last place that they would look for me."

"So there was someone who tried to look for you."

"A family friend, probably out of obligation."

Rin frowned. "I'm sure that whoever it was actually cared for your wellbeing."

He did, but Kakashi couldn't tell her the exact truth. He was glad that she didn't pry into the details of how they "betrayed" him because Kakahsi never thought of a cover story. No one ever asked.

"Enough about me," Kakashi cut in. "What about you? Why did you join the Uchihas?"

"I've been with the Uchihas for as long as I can remember," Rin recalled wistfully. "They gave me a home."

_A home._

To some extent, Kakashi could understand that feeling. Too bad that pitted them on opposing sides.

Rin was smiling when her hand reached out to grab the glass of water. Kakashi's eyes widened in realization. The poison.

In a spur of a moment, Kakashi had intended to stand up to grab the glass out of Rin's reach, but in the process, his knee collided with the bottom of the table with enough force to knock the glass off of the table. Both Kakashi and Rin watched as the glass fell, the contents spilling outwards. The glass shattered.

He was up and out of his seat, squatting down next to the mess. Rin had grabbed a nearby towel to soak up the water while Kakashi began to pick up the shards of glass with his bare hands, careful not to cut himself.

Rin placed a hand on top of his. "Leave it, I'll get the broom to sweep it up. Don't hurt yourself."

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it. It's just one glass."

To her, it had only been a glass of water, but to him, the implications were much, much greater.

* * *

_Minato Sensei,_

_I'm sorry that I let you down. I can't do it._

* * *

Rin never met with Itachi outside of the hospital; she often ran into him when he came to visit injured shinobis, but they rarely spoke beyond him asking about the patient's condition. Most of their correspondence was either through Obito or another messenger, so Rin was thoroughly surprised when she received a note asking her to go to his office when she went to work the next morning.

Much to her surprise, the first words out of Itachi's mouth had been "I heard you wanted to be sent to the outposts?"

Rin blinked twice, not so subtly pinching her forearm to make sure she hadn't been dreaming. Her first thought was Obito had put in a good word for her. But wait, Rin never told him about wanting to go to the outposts; she briefly mentioned it once when the war first started, only for Obito to shoot down the idea. Since then, the thought lingered in the back of her mind since Rin knew Obito wouldn't support her, so she never said it out loud again, not until…

Kakashi.

Rin wasn't sure what propelled her to tell him things that she wouldn't tell Obito. Perhaps it had been the appeal that was practically a stranger on the mission to Oto, so it didn't matter what he thought.

Except, Kakashi had been the only one to not try to convince her otherwise like Obito, Akiara, and Izumi had.

"Yes. I believe my talents would be far more useful if I were able to give immediate treatment on the field."

"I can agree to send you out of the outposts if you complete another mission that I have for you."

Rin nodded eagerly, figuring that Itachi was going to ask her to create another poison or something along those lines. She stared at him expectantly, waiting for Itachi to pull out a small vial from one of the drawer's of his desk. Itachi set the vial on his desk, laying it out for her to see.

A chill went down her spine as her wide eyes remained locked on the container. Though it was the first time that it was happening to her, Rin knew exactly what Itachi wanted.

"Who?" Rin whispered. She wasn't sure that she wanted to know. It wouldn't be too late for her to leave the room, to forget all about going to the outposts. Someone else would be assigned to do the job; it wouldn't have to be on her conscience.

Or would it? Rin would still be a bystander.

But it was too late, the name had already left Itachi's lips. At that moment, Rin desperately wished that she could have unwind time for two minutes, just so she could say no to Itachi's question.

Her heart ached at the mere thought of having to assassinate a stranger.

Her heart shattered when her brain finally registered the name.

Kakashi Hatake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi again!
> 
> Sorry for the cliffhanger; I know I'm evil. I'm sure we all kind of knew that Itachi was on to Kakashi from the beginning of their first interaction and it's just two geniuses attempting to outsmart each other lol.
> 
> Next chapter is the battlefield and probably the most action packed chapter in this entire story.
> 
> Thanks for reading! Until next time.  
> -MM


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